The Love, Pain and Tears of Uchiha Sasuke
by emichii
Summary: Sasuke has always been a dark secretive person, but will anyone learn about the pain inside him? Will they accept the way he really is? And will anyone love him for real, not just for how he looks?
1. Pathetic Hyuuga Loser!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

The Love, Pain and Tears of Uchiha Sasuke 

by emichii

**Hi everyone!! ****This is my new Naruto fanfic- The Love, Pain and Tears of Uchiha Sasuke!! I hope you'll like it!! It's a romance/angst sasuhina fic. **

**NO COUPLEBASHING, okay?? I like sasuhina!! **

**Well then, let's get started!! Please read and review!! ****emichii!**

**Chapter One: Pathetic Hyuuga Loser!!!**

Lady Tsunade looked intently at the paper with the mission assignment details written on it. She looked through her lists of chunin ninjas.

_Uchiha Sasuke… _She narrowed her eyes. _Okay, he'll do, but who else?_

"Lady Tsunade, I heard you were looking for another ninja to do this mission."

Lady Tsunade looked up at the sound of the voice. "Yeah…?"

Hiashi Hyuuga stood still and stern in front of her. His eyes were harsh and cruel as usual. He said in his demanding tone: "Send Hyuuga Hinata."

"What?" Lady Tsunade said in an unbelievable tone. "I can't send Hinata! She's too… weak…"

"Exactly." said Hinata's father.

"No! She'll get hurt! She could die!"

Hiashi made a sniffing noise. "I'd rather she die in a mission then disgrace the Hyuuga name as such a pathetic ninja."

Lady Tsunade could see that Hiashi wasn't in a compromising mood. But she couldn't just let Hinata take on such a dangerous mission.

Hiashi could see that Lady Tsunade was hesitating. He just needed something to seal the deal.

"Well, there's that Uchiha boy, isn't there?" he said gruffly.

"Huh?"

"Huh… well, he's that perfect ninja from that Uchiha clan, isn't he? He's going on that mission, so even if you put my pathetic daughter with him, she should be okay." Hiashi grunted, "If the Uchihas are really _that _great…"

"…" Lady Tsunade didn't know what to say. She slowly let out a withdrawn sigh. "…If you wish, Hiashi."

It was later on that day that Sasuke and Hinata were given the news and their assignment.

Hinata just kept her gaze lowered as she left the Ninja Assignment building. Her heart was beating quite fast.

_Why me? _She wondered. _Why would they choose me? I'm weak… and useless… I'll be a burden!! _She snuck a look at Sasuke. Her heart fell even more. _Especially… since I'm paired with him… _

Hinata was fourteen and she was finally a chunin. Her indigo hair had grown longer and was now halfway down her back. She still had the same pale white eyes with the tint of lavender.

She hadn't changed much from two years ago. She still had a crush on Naruto and she still stuttered and averted her eyes when she talked.

Hinata blushed a tiny bit as she lowered her gaze even more. _Naruto-kun… if only I could go on a mission with you… _

Sasuke was pissed. He grunted with annoyance.

He got even more annoyed when he noticed Hinata acting all coy. _CRAP!! There she goes looking all goofy again… anyone can tell when she's thinking about that baka Naruto!!!_

Fifteen-year-old Sasuke hadn't changed much from his genin years. He had obviously gotten taller and was still very much the heart-throb of Konoha. He had also gotten a lot stronger, but his attitude had probably gotten worse.

But if you had girls fawning all over you every day of your life and jumping you all the time, you'd be screaming to give a statement too.

Sasuke grunted. _Shit, why'd they have to put me together with the Hyuuga loser? Seriously, what the hell were they thinking?? _

Anger consumed him and his thoughts. _Hinata is useless!! She can't do anything!! She's the weakest person in Konoha; I don't know how the heck she became a chunin!! And she's meant to be a Hyuuga…? I can already tell I'm gonna have to do all the work and fighting… not like she's gonna be any help… crap, she'll just slow me down! _

Sasuke was glaring ferociously at Hinata even while he walked. She wasn't noticing because she was still thinking about Naruto.

Just then she looked up and said, "U-Uchiha-san, t-tomorrow we're going to leave, aren't we?"

_FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, WHY DOES SHE HAVE TO TALK LIKE THAT?!?? _Hinata's stuttering set Sasuke off.

Before he could try to control his flaming emotions and the hurtful words that came flying from his mouth without warning, he yelled at her.

"Don't think I even wanted to go on this mission with you, Hyuuga!!" He spat out. "All you'll do is drag me down!! You're completely weak!! You can't do anything!! You're the weakest there is!! And you're meant to be a _Hyuuga?!? _You're worthless and useless!!! You're completely pathetic!!!"

Hinata froze, his words hitting her hard. Her lavender eyes were wide open and filled with fear. She trembled slightly.

Sasuke glared with tremendous hatred, a tiny smirk on his face. "You're feeble and pitiful!! You're completely pathetic, you loser!!"

With that, he walked off. And Hinata was left there, staring after him. His cruel words still echoing in her mind.

"_You're feeble and pitiful!! You're completely pathetic, you loser!!" _

**That's the first chapter!! ****Yep, Sasuke's really cruel, huh? Well, that's Sasuke!! He'll grow to love her… Sasuke has his own problems, so that's why he's the main character here!! Thanks for reading!! Please review!! **


	2. The Scroll

**Yo!! SUP?? Hi!! Emichii here!! Thanks for all your reviews!! They're all really awesome!! Here's chapter 2!! Please read and review!! **

**Don't own Naruto.**

**Chapter Two: The scroll **

_THE NINJA MISSION ASSIGNMENT_

_Your ninja mission is in two parts. _

_The first part:_

_You must take this scroll to the Sound Village Otokage. You cannot look at the scroll yourself and no-one can see it but him. _

_Ninjas from other villages, rogue ninjas and other ninjas will do anything they can to get their hands on this scroll. You must protect it no matter what. _

_YOU CANNOT LET ANYONE ELSE TAKE IT, SEE IT OR TOUCH IT._

_In order to protect the scroll, it might even come that you'll have to SACRIFICE yourself for it. Even so, the scroll and the fate of this mission rests in your hands. _

_This is only the FIRST PART. The second part cannot be revealed until you are in a safe place in or near the Sound Village. _

In Konoha, it was a sunny day with plenty of good weather ahead. Sunlight was filtering through the leaves. Hinata stood in a clearing, waiting for Sasuke to turn up.

Some of the other Konoha ninjas were standing around too, chatting. They were there to wish Sasuke and Hinata all the best on their "super dangerous mission".

"Remember to eat lots of ramen!!" Naruto said seriously to her. "Ramen is good for your body and your brain and your ninja skills!!"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Yeah right, Naruto! I can see where your brains came from!"

"No!! It's true!! Believe it!!" Naruto argued.

A small sweat drop ran down Hinata's face. "Eh heh heh…" she giggled nervously.

Just then someone placed a hand on her shoulder. Hinata almost jumped out of her skin.

"…it's just me, Hinata," Shino said.

"O-oh!" Hinata was embarassed. "Shino-kun… um…"

The ninja with the dark glasses looked around. Then he narrowed his eyes (although no-one could see) at Hinata. "I just wanted to say, _watch out._"

"Huh?"

"This is an incredibly dangerous mission. I don't know why they sent you on it. But I guess they tried to make sure you'd be okay, by sending Uchiha with you."

"Y-yeah…" Hinata stared at the ground.

"Well, good luck then," Shino said.

"Thanks,"

Just then, all the chatting and talking between everyone stopped. Everyone was quiet.

Uchiha Sasuke had arrived.

Sasuke had the normal dark expression on his face and the normal death glare that easily chilled weak people to the bone. Immediately, Hinata felt herself shrinking under his stare.

_Why… does Uchiha-san's being seem to bear so much… animosity? _She wondered.

Sasuke couldn't stop his automatic glaring. Whenever he saw that girl, it was as though he wanted to shoot eyebeams at her or something. Sasuke grunted. _Hinata is such a loser._

Sakura broke the awkward silence by bursting out, "Oh, Sasuke!!"

Immediately, she ran towards him, only to be stopped by an extremely annoyed Ino.

"Get out of the way, Ino!!!" Sakura shouted.

"No way!!" was Ino's reply.

Sasuke barely gave them a second glance. He moved past all the other ninja that were their age, not even looking at them. Even though everyone had been there just to wish them luck on their journey, Sasuke didn't give a damn.

Choji and Shikamaru glared with hatred at Sasuke. Choji didn't stop stuffing his food down his throat while he talked. "He should at least be grateful we came here just to see them off."

Shikamaru agreed wholeheartedly, "Man, Uchiha's so up himself. We dragged ourselves here so early in the morning and he treats us like he doesn't want us here."

Sasuke ignored everyone's whispers and hushed conversations. He was just in a rush to get out of Konoha and away from all these annoying fellow ninjas who kept going on about what they thought about him.

He kept walking towards Hinata. He still couldn't stop the glaring hatred in his eyes.

Everyone was watching except for Sakura and Ino who were still arguing.

Sasuke stopped in front of Hinata. He had a scroll that Lady Tsunade had given him securely in one hand. All his other gear was in a backpack casually hanging over one shoulder.

"Let's go already!!" He said.

"Ahh, but… everyone's come to say goodbye to us…!" Hinata started.

"Exactly. Let's get out of here now."

Sasuke started walking away. Hinata hurried after him, calling, "But Sakura-san still hasn't had a chance to say anything to you!!"

"I'm not about to give her a chance." was his harsh reply.

Hinata could only follow Sasuke hopelessly.

Hinata's teammates watched them go.

Kiba seemed to be trying to send telepathic messages to Hinata, because he didn't get to tell her before she left. Kiba was pissed off with Sasuke who was being an ungrateful idiot.

_Damn that Uchiha…! I'd really prefer Hinata went with someone else or not have to go at all!! _

When Hinata and Sasuke were out of Konoha, Sasuke gave out a tiny sigh. He was relieved to get away from the other ninjas. He turned around and scowled at Hinata. "Hurry up! How slow do you walk anyway?"

"Ahh… I'm sorry, Uchiha-san!!" Hinata gasped.

They had been walking in silence for a while now.

It was really awkward, especially for Hinata. She could easily tell that Sasuke greatly disliked her with a huge hatred and he certainly didn't want her around. But she was glad he wasn't saying anything.

Finally he spoke: "Listen, Hyuuga-san, I'm not very good at working together with other people so you should just do what I say, okay?"

"H-hai!"

Sasuke made an annoyed face. _For heaven's sake, why must she always stutter and talk like that??!? And I'm stuck with her for this whole mission??!?_

From the trees and bushes around them, two ninjas were watching. One of them held up a kunai knife and grinned at the other one. "It's been so long since I last killed someone."

"Hm, I agree." The other one replied. He spied the scroll Sasuke had in one hand. "That's the scroll, right?"

"Yep."

The ninja rolled his eyes. "What were they thinking, sending a bunch of teenagers on a mission like this??"

"Aw, who cares? They look weak anyway. Especially that one with the violet hair. I guess it just means more rubbish lying around. Dead bodies, to be precise."

"Let's just go kill ourselves a couple of weak ninjas. And get that scroll!!"

Sasuke suddenly sensed something. He immediately spun around and whipped a kunai knife out of his pack and a couple of shurikens as well.

"U-Uchiha-san??" Hinata looked shocked.

"Shut up!!" Sasuke cried. "Can't you see we're gonna be attacked?"

Hinata immediately froze up.

Just then, two ninjas jumped down from the trees. Sasuke was immediately on guard and Hinata tried her best to be ready.

_For crying out loud, _Sasuke thought in annoyance as he glanced at Hinata, _she's such a weakling I'm just gonna have to do everything by myself! But… _He was still holding the scroll in his right hand. _I could do this all faster if I didn't have to look after this at the same time. _

Sasuke gripped the scroll, turned around in a blur and passed the scroll to Hinata. Hinata held the scroll tightly with both hands and she looked scared to death.

_What do you want me to do with it?!? _She was crying out in her mind.

Sasuke sent her a message with his eyes. _Crap, like DUH, look after it!! Obviously it's not like you're gonna be fighting or anything! _

Hinata held the scroll tightly. The two ninjas that had jumped from the trees were standing in front of Sasuke. One of them said out loud, "Well that was stupid, boy. Just give the precious scroll to the weak girl, huh?"

Sasuke's eyes widened. _Oh crap! Why does she have to be so damn useless?!??_

The other ninja quickly appeared in front of Hinata.

"Don't worry, it will be a fast death. But I'm not going to make it painless."

Hinata was scared out of her wits. But she was a ninja!! And she was not going to let these ninjas take the scroll. She had trained so hard so that she could fight!! And even if she wasn't strong enough, she would protect the scroll with everything she had!!

Sasuke knew he'd made a mistake entrusting the scroll to Hinata.

"FIREBALL JUTSU!!" He yelled, quickly making handsigns and then shooting fire at the ninja in front of him. The ninja barely escaped, but without getting scorched quite badly.

The scorched ninja glared at Sasuke. _I had no idea that was coming! _He could see Sasuke running towards Hinata and the other ninja. _I might be burnt a little, but you're not getting away with that!! _He sent heaps of needles flying at Sasuke's unprotected back.

Hinata was trying to get away from the ninja chasing her. She just looked back and saw the needles flying at Sasuke.

"Uchiha-san!!! Look out!!"

Sasuke turned around just in time and managed to dodge a needle, but all the rest came flying it and hurting him all over the back and on his cheek.

Sasuke swore under his breath. He glanced at Hinata, who was getting beaten up by the other ninja. Sasuke ignored the pain from his wounds and tried to get over to protect the scroll.

"Stay where you are!" The partially burnt ninja yelled, sending two kunai knives flying at Sasuke. They pinned him back against a tree behind him.

Hinata was still holding the scroll as hard as she could. She was exhausted and sweating.

The ninja after her suddenly threw a whole handful of shurikens at her. One of them knocked the scroll out of her hands. The scroll fell and hit the ground hard.

Sasuke used a substitution jutsu and started racing for the scroll.

The ninja with the burn marks on his clothes used flash-step to get to the scroll. Just when Sasuke reached it and bent down to get the scroll, the un-burnt ninja was doing hand-signs super fast.

"It might destroy the scroll, but if it will destroy you too, you brat, it's worth it!!" He shouted.

Sasuke's eyes widened.

_Noo! _Hinata immediately darted forward. _I-I've got to protect the scroll!! And Uchiha-san, he'll get hurt!! Aarghh!!_

A huge explosion erupted. Smoke was clearing. Sasuke and the other two ninjas were standing in anxiety, waiting to see what happened and who was still standing. Just then, Sasuke realized that Hinata was gone!

The smoke finally cleared and Sasuke's eyes almost fell out of his head. Hinata coughed and groaned in pain. She was on her knees, in front of the scroll. Sasuke suddenly understood what had happened.

At the last moment, she had thrown herself in front of the blast, kicked Sasuke out of the way and tried to grab the scroll and escape but since there was no time, she just endured the blast to protect the scroll.

Hinata was coughing out blood and her left arm and her back were dripping with blood. Her normally pale skin was bruised and cut, dyed red with the blood. Hinata trembled. She reached with shaking hands for the scroll behind her.

Sasuke was shocked and taken aback. _She threw herself in front of the attack?? She let herself get pulverized just to protect the scroll… and she- she… she kicked me… out of the way?!?!!_

_Hinata… you… you dumb, stupid fool!!! _

**That's all for now!! I actually planned this chapter to go for quite a lot longer but well… this chapter is already quite long, so the plot will just have to continue next chapter!! Thankyou for reading!! Please review!! **


	3. Blood and Tears

**Hey!! emichii here!! Thankyou for the reviews!! They make me really happy!! WOOHOO!! Well… yeah, third chapter coming right up!! Sasuke is such a pain! Why does he have to be so negative and up himself? It's quite hard to write his point of view and what he might be thinking. Read and review!! **

**Chapter Three: Blood and Tears**

Hinata was in such pain she could hardly groan from it. She could barely move, but she reached and grabbed the scroll, pulling it towards her and hugging it close to her.

…_maybe what I did was stupid, but I'm doing this for Lady Tsunade and our village… owwch… that's what counts, isn't it??_

Sasuke hated the strange feelings stirring inside him right now. He wanted so much to yell and scream his head off and Hinata. He wanted to hate her and despise her. He wanted to tell her how stupid and pathetic and useless she was.

But… she had just saved his life.

Sasuke bit his lip. He clenched and unclenched his fist, thoughts still spinning in his mind.

_I can't act grateful. I can't be so lowly! I won't!! I don't want to admit that she saved me, even thought she got hurt so badly! I don't wanna say that she was brave enough to do that for the scroll! I don't wanna!! _

Sasuke could hardly tear his eyes away from Hinata and the bloodbath around her. Suddenly he felt great rage burning in his eyes. He turned towards the ninja who had caused it all.

_For doing all this… for hurting Hyuuga… for trying to kill me… for making me out to be such a fool… _

Sasuke's eyes widened in a thirst for revenge.

"I WILL KILL YOU!!!!" he screamed.

The other two ninja had been quite taken aback so they were slow to respond. They had been too busy staring in amazement at Hinata.

The ninja who had used the explosion attack was suddenly thrown to the ground. Sasuke appeared on top of him punching and kicking like some wild beast.

The other ninja didn't try to help his fallen comrade. He was still entranced but the bloody mess called Hinata on her knees in front of him.

_I can't believe she did that. She actually threw herself in front of his attack? And how come she didn't die? There's nobody who could do that and not die!! Renn's attack is incredibly powerful!! _The ninja looked closer at Hinata.

He noticed the pale white-lavender eyes. _She's a Hyuuga? _

Renn (the ninja who had blasted Hinata) was coughing out blood. He was lying in a heap on the ground and merciless Sasuke was beating him up. His eyes were red with the marks of the Sharingan.

Renn's eyes rolled up towards the top of his head. _An Uchiha? I didn't think there were any left…_

The burnt ninja remembered Renn and ran quickly to his side. But Sasuke had already done the damage.

Renn lay, just about lifeless on the ground. He was already finished but Sasuke still stood there, eyes darkened, punching him in the ribs over and over again, as though it might do him some compensation.

Then Hinata's weak voice called out to him. "U-U-Uchiha… san!!" She cried. "Stop!! Stop!! Don't… don't kill him!!"

Sasuke was deaf to her voice. But he eventually had to stop because his fists were really hurting.

Renn was gasping for breath but because of the massive rib damage done to him. His lungs were brutally damaged and he couldn't breathe. It was because of this that Renn died.

Sasuke stood in front of him, chest heaving up and down. He was tired out and staring at the dead body that lay before him sent a chill up his spine. In a way, it was a bloodthirsty chill that made him want to kill more. Yet it also shocked him that he had taken away another's life.

Sasuke quickly turned towards the other ninja. He glared at him and the bloodthirsty hatred that burned inside his eyes drove the ninja away. The ninja threw a glance at poor dead Renn and he felt a sob rise up in his throat. He quickly ran away, vowing in his heart to find this Uchiha again and avenge Renn.

Finally there was silence. Sasuke was pleased about the quietness until it was broken but a heartwrenching cry.

Sobbing and the sound of tears hitting the blood-covered ground got Sasuke's attention. He went up to Hinata- the source of the crying.

She was still on her knees, the blood and wounds on her. Crying hurt her even more but she couldn't stop the salty tears falling.

"Why?" she cried, "… Uchiha-san… why… why did you kill him?" Hinata sobbed harder and harder, unable to control the emotions inside her. Her shoulders shook with emotion, making her wounds open more and a new spurt of blood pour out.

Sasuke didn't meet Hinata's gaze. He listened to her hiccups and cries.

Finally he spoke blankly, "A ninja's job is to kill, Hyuuga-san."

Hinata's tears dripped onto the ground and mixed with the red blood. "But… but… it's still someone's life!! A life… is p-precious… there's so much… someone could do with it… I don't understand… how anyone can kill like that…" Hinata sobbed and her cries were weakening and softening from pain and exhaustion. "Uchiha-san… how can you… how can you kill someone… without feeling anything… at… all?!??"

Hinata fell back with a soft thud and a splash of blood against the ground. She hiccupped quietly, still crying, though she was unable to move any part of her body. She was too tired and too badly injured. The hand that clutched the scroll shook violently and let go of it.

The scroll hit the ground and was stained with blood and tears.

Hinata lay there, unmoving, with millions of tears running down her face.

…_Why do you do that? _Sasuke's eyes were hard and cold. He looked at Renn's lifeless body and quickly looked away. Sasuke walked towards Hinata.

_Why do you cry? How come you feel all these emotions? Why are you so innocent and… pure? You make me feel so dirty, Hyuuga-san… _Sasuke picked Hinata up and carried her away slowly. _And… you cry for the enemy. Even though you're a ninja and your job is to kill people, you can't do that… _

Sasuke scowled in annoyance as he walked away. Hinata's breathing was soft and shallow.

_Why… don't you stop crying? _

**Chapter three complete!! Woohoo!! And if you saw the message on my profile, you'll know that this chapter comes out a day earlier than normal. Anyway… nice chapter, wasn't it? Super angst!! WOW!! Yeah… I kinda get the feeling that my readers aren't too happy with Sasuke. He's so evil!! But… this fic is about him, you know. It will take a long time, but he'll start to change. I can't wait!! Yayy!! **

**Read and review, everyone!! **


	4. Our mission together

**Heya!! Thankyou for the wonderful reviews!! I know some people were shocked when Sasuke killed Renn. Actually, my bro went on and on about it. He was like, "Don't make renn die!! NOOO!!" **

**And I was like, "YESS!!"**

**Man, Renn was only around for a little while. I needed Sasuke to reveal his dark bloodthirsty side so I could get this story to work!! Well, gotta stop blithering like an idiot and start writing!! R&R, peoples!! **

**Don't own Naruto. **

**Enjoy chapter four!! **

_This is not a fairy tale _

**The Love, Pain and Tears of Uchiha Sasuke **

**Chapter Four: Our mission together**

Hinata opened her eyes and gazed around her. She tried to sit up from her lying down position. Every single part of her body ached.

Hinata tried to remember what had happened. Then it dawned on her.

_Ohh… I got hurt really badly by some ninja's explosion… and then… Uchiha-san killed him… _

Hinata saddened deeply. She looked down and was surprised that her bruised and hurt arms were bandaged and so was her side and part of her back. She raised a hand and felt a bandage on her cheek too.

It was kind of crude and bad bandaging but that didn't matter. Hinata quickly looked around her for Sasuke. He was sitting nearby, head lowered and eyelids closed with his black hair falling in front of his eyes.

"U-Uchiha-san…" she ventured quietly, "Th-thankyou,"

Sasuke opened his eyes and looked at her lazily. "Whatever,"

Sasuke watched her as she struggled to her feet, wobbled and regained her balance again. Hinata said softly, "What happened to that… dead ninja's body?"

Sasuke shrugged. "I dunno."

Hinata said nothing. For a second, Sasuke was scared that she might start crying again. But she didn't. Sasuke could feel there were tears in her eyes, though.

"…we… should bury him, shouldn't we, Uchiha-san?"

Sasuke got furious. "What are you thinking, Hyuuga? I told you before that we're ninja and we're meant to kill!! Did you ever see a ninja burying the enemy and _praying _for them or something?!?"

"N-no…" Hinata answered timidly and frightened.

Sasuke knew that Hinata was really scared of him. And it still annoyed him more than ever the way she stuttered and murmured and talked so quietly. It pissed him off!!

They stood there in silence. Hinata was trembling under Sasuke's hating glare. A tiny tear slipped from her eye. Sasuke grumbled. "…do what you want."

"A-arigato," she whispered. Hinata made her way to Renn's dead body. She crouched down and lifted him across one of her shoulders.

Sasuke watched her in surprise. _She's… actually strong enough to carry him even when she's hurt so badly? _

Hinata took Renn to a quiet spot under a tree and started to bury him. She kept her eyes lowered as she buried him. Hinata felt overwhelming sadness. Tears trickled down her face.

"…I'm sorry…" she whispered into the ground.

It was frightening to know that Sasuke had killed someone so brutally without a second thought. Her hands trembled. She couldn't help it but feel incredibly scared.

Hinata's body ached suddenly. She fell back onto the ground.

_I just wanted to bury him… but it hurts!! _Hinata looked at her side. Her wounds had opened up again and fresh blood spilled from the bandages.

Hinata sat on the ground, bearing the pain, feeling tears stream down her face. She frowned furiously. _N-noo!! I'm not that weak! I can't let just a little pain get me down!! I won't… I won't get beaten just because of pain!! I will not-! _

She was struggling to her feet when she felt someone's hand pressing down firmly on her head and pushing her back down to the ground.

Her eyes widened. "U-Uchiha-san!!"

Sasuke didn't look at her. He went past her and finished Renn's burial. Then he said quietly, "Don't move. You're still injured."

"A-ahh… yeah, thankyou, Uchiha-san…" she said.

It was quiet for a moment between them. Hinata stayed sitting on the ground, staring at the ground. Sasuke leaned against a tree nearby.

He turned his eyes at the sky. "…so… Hyuuga-san… we should get going now."

"H-hai!" Hinata got to her feet.

Sasuke made sure they had all their stuff in their bags and started to leave, but remembered that Hinata was still hurt quite badly, so he stopped and turned to check on her.

Hinata stood in front of Renn's grave. She bowed deeply, her pretty indigo hair brushing against her face.

"Please forgive us, Ninja-san. Rest in peace…" she whispered.

Sasuke watched Hinata stumbled over to him. He stared at her seriously, "Hyuuga-san, you shouldn't walk yet,"

"No! No… Uchiha-san, I'm fine! I-I can handle it!"

Sasuke grunted. "I'm rejecting all your protests, you got that? I'll… carry you…"

Sasuke carried Hinata on his back.

_Man… she's so light… _Sasuke thought to himself.

"Um… thankyou very much, Uchiha-san." Hinata grew warm. Her head was spinning as Sasuke walked and they moved on through the forest. _Uchiha-san… is being really nice to me… _

It was quiet for a while. Hinata had her arms draped over Sasuke's shoulders.

Sasuke grunted. Ah crap… this was annoying.

"Oh yeah, Hyuuga-san…" he spoke up as he took the scroll from his pocket. "You can look after the scroll… I think you're definitely able to protect it properly."

Hinata took the scroll off Sasuke. "Ah… okay…" She remembered something and then hurriedly said, "B-but, Uchiha-san… I… I'm weak- I can't take care of it… you said so yourself, Uchiha-san. Why are you… entrusting me with this?"

"Because… you're not weak, Hyuuga-san. I think… you can protect this the best. And it's not my mission… I can't do everything by myself," Sasuke's face started burning. "We have to work together 'cause it's our mission together."

"Yeah…" Hinata murmured.

Inside, she was feeling really happy. _He thinks I can protect it properly!! He's entrusting me with something important… He said I was weak before… but now he thinks I can take care of something like this…!! _Hinata smiled brightly, though no-one could see.

"Uchiha-san… you're actually really nice!!" Hinata cried.

Sasuke grunted. "…I don't give a damn…"

Sasuke kept walking. "…By the way, being called 'san' annoys me. Don't call me that."

"Aahh…" Hinata fumbled over her words. "S-sorry, Uchiha-sa… Uchiha-kun?"

Sasuke said nothing.

But Hinata felt incredibly happy. "Uhh… In that case, Uchiha-sa... kun, would you please call me Hinata?"

"Whatever."

They went on through the forest and Hinata kept a good hold on the scroll. Her body was still aching, but the pain didn't seem to hurt so much anymore.

"_We have to work together 'cause it's our mission together."_

Hinata smiled to herself. _Yeah, it's our mission together. _

**Yeaahhh!! They got upgraded!! I want them to keep getting to know each other so that soon they can call each other by their first names without any honorifics. Yeaahhh!! Thankyou for reading!! Please review!! **


	5. Attacked once again!

**I do not own Naruto. Here's chapter five!! Enjoy!! **

**Chapter Five: Attacked once again! **

Sasuke carried Hinata that day and it seemed peaceful. Hinata was already happy that she had been entrusted with the scroll and that she was allowed to call Sasuke 'kun'.

Sasuke was wondering how he got himself stuck in this mess. He did feel a little embarassed, though he knew nobody could see him carrying Hinata. But man, he had a reputation to keep up!! He couldn't let anyone see that inside he was still weak. And he didn't want Hinata to know that.

He felt his face get a little red. He kept his eyes focused on the ground. _No-one can ever know!! No-one can know about the secrets and the painful past I'm hiding!! _Sasuke frowned hard. _It's not like anyone would understand anyway. No-one can understand the pain I've had. And I don't want anyone to try to understand!! So… don't get any closer… you get it, Hinata? _

Sasuke sighed and he knew that he had already weakened to the gentle Hyuuga. He was annoyed. _Ahhh… crap. I'm so stuffed. _

Sasuke sensed something suspicious suddenly. He tensed and swiftly looked around him. Sasuke knew it'd be hard to battle with Hinata on his back. He quickly pulled a kunai out of his pocket. He'd just have to try to distract them and make a run for it.

Damn. How he hated running away from a fight. _Dammit, Hinata, look what you're making me do!! _

A dozen or more sharp needles flew down from the sky. Sasuke dodged them all like lightning. He looked upwards. _Who's throwing them?? _

Sasuke struggled to keep Hinata on his back.

"Hey…" he said quietly. "Hey!! Hinata-san!!" He said louder. "Are you awake??"

Hinata groaned. "Huh? Yeah, Uchiha-kun?"

"Look, some ninjas are trying to pick a fight with us. I can't exactly fight them while carrying you, so…"

"You don't have to carry me, Uchiha-kun! I'll be fine." Hinata said.

Sasuke wasn't sure but he put her down as gently as he could, though he found it kinda hard. He still disliked the Hyuuga so he wanted to chuck her away.

Hinata stood a little wobbly on the ground. She had the scroll hidden well and she knew that any ninjas who wanted it would never guess it was with her- the weak one.

Sasuke felt a lot lighter, energetic and stronger without anyone on his back. He ran towards the place where he had felt the ninjas' presence. He pulled a couple of shuriken out of his pocket and he held his kunai knife tightly in his other hand.

"What do… you ninja want?!?" Sasuke shouted and sent shuriken flying to his right and behind him. Three ninja appeared suddenly, with shuriken stuck on their clothing.

The first ninja angrily yanked a shuriken off his sleeve. "How dare you throw shuriken at me?!?"

Sasuke smirked, "Too bad. Your hiding sucks."

Ninja 1 growled.

Sasuke glared at the three ninja, "What do you want?"

The second ninja explained, "We're on a B-ranked mission to get the scroll from you guys!!"

Sasuke stuck out his tongue, "Well, guess what? We're on a mission to stop anyone like _you_ getting this scroll and that's what we're gonna do!!"

"Fireball Jutsu!!" Sasuke yelled, making hand signs and blowing a blast of red-hot flames at the trio.

They all jumped out of the way. Sasuke was pissed off.

"Stop trying to hide," he said with gritted teeth. "I can see everything you do!!" Sasuke cried, Sharingan appearing in his eyes.

Ninja 3 sneered. "You can't beat all three of us. You're all by yourself! You're so up yourself you think you can do everything by yourself!! And that girl over there! She doesn't think we can't see her, does she? 'Cause we're not gonna just let her sit there, we'll go after her too!"

Sasuke grunted. "She's hurt, okay? I'm not about to force her to fight!!"

"Oh, you're so considerate, aren't you?" The ninja went on.

Sasuke was stunned for a while. No-one had ever called him considerate before. His face burnt. "What?!?"

He glared at them and his eyes hardened. He gave a mean grin. "What about you?? So _un-considerate_, you're about to attack someone who's already injured!"

"…I'm fine!!" Hinata cried as she stood up straight. "Byakugan!!" she said as wrinkles started to appear around her eyes.

"Hinata!!?" Sasuke was surprised. "You're actually gonna fight?"

Hinata suddenly flew towards the three ninja. She was a blur because of how fast she was moving.

"Of course," she said, just loud enough for only Sasuke to hear. "I'm a ninja too!"

Sasuke's eyes were wide.

"Where'd she go?!?" The three ninja looked around in shock. Suddenly shuriken and kunai knives fell down from the sky hitting their main chakra points. They fell back onto the ground, groaning.

Sasuke was just standing there, gobsmacked. Hinata landed onto the ground, though a little too heavily. She groaned a little but Sasuke was the only one who heard her.

He frowned but turned his attention to the three ninja.

_Just as I thought… she didn't kill them… _He glanced at Hinata who was breathing hard and thoroughly exhausted, because she hadn't healed completely from before. He began making handsigns. _Guess I'll just have to finish them off myself. _

Ninja 2 jumped up to his feet. He swiftly did handsigns and tried to send an attack to Hinata. "What the?!? My chakra… it's not working!!" he cried.

Sasuke smirked. "That's 'cause Hinata-san disabled your chakra points!! Now then … Gokakyu no Jutsu!!"

Fire exploded towards the ninja. Ninja 2 collapsed and the other ninja ran towards Sasuke. Sasuke's eyes glowed red. The feeling from before returned. He wanted to… kill again… He was craving bloodshed and blood on his hands. It was a strange feeling that chilled him to the bone but… he wanted to kill.

He grinned devilishly, his teeth showing. He grabbed a kunai knife and bounded forward to the two ninjas left. Before anyone had time to react, he slashed at them like a crazed slaughterer.

Even when they fell back on the ground he wasn't satisfied. He grabbed one of the ninja by the collar, ready to finish them. He was about to attack again when Hinata's voice suddenly cried out in aguish, "Uchiha-kun!!"

Sasuke turned around, looking irritated. "Whaddaya want?!?"

Hinata was breathing hard and she seemed so tired, but she glared at Sasuke. It was weird to see her glare.

Staring furiously at him, she said, "Uchiha-kun… you can't kill them… because they are living… too!! You can't take away their lives like that… you can't!! Uchiha-kun… don't- DON'T KILL THEM!!"

Hinata's balance wobbled uncontrollably but she kept trying to stand. Sasuke dropped the ninja. He stared wide-eyed at his hands.

_What…?!? Why am I… doing this?? _Sasuke was confused and annoyed. Suddenly, he didn't feel like fighting anymore. He didn't want to kill anyone. He glanced at Hinata. _How come… how come when she told me not to kill… she got rid of the blood lust I had?!?_

Sasuke frowned and he slowly started walking away from the gaping, frightened ninjas on the ground. _I… don't get it… _

"U-Uchiha-kun… you…" Hinata started quietly. "You… didn't kill them…!!"

Sasuke grumbled. He felt incredibly confused. He didn't understand what was happening to him.

Hinata smiled. "Thankyou…!"

Sasuke felt his face grow warm. _Aahh! Crap!! Noo!! _

Then Hinata collapsed because she had exhausted all of her energy. Automatically, Sasuke reached out and caught her. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop how fast his heart was beating and how his face was flushing.

Sasuke scowled. What was happening?!?

This girl, Hinata… she was making him act like a complete idiot… and he just didn't know what to do. He wanted to hate her so badly, because he still thought she was a weakling and wimpy… but… just what was this strange feeling in his chest??

**Yaayyy!! Chapter five complete!! Woohoo!! Please read and review!! I hope you liked it!! Sasuhina forever!! WOOT!! From emichii!! **


	6. Jetsuuki

**Nihao!! How are you all?? Thanks so much for all the reviews!! Thankyou very much!! I'm glad you're liking my fic! Some people are saying that Sasuke is so evil, and then some people are saying he's in character, so maybe I'll leave him be for now. He will change later on though. Hinata will help him!! BIG GRIN**

**I guess it's the feud he and his brother has and how he's lost all the other people from his clan that's made him so bloodthirsty… oh dear… anyway, read and review!! **

**Chapter Six: Jetsuuki **

When Hinata woke up, she realized she was laid out on the ground in some sort of shelter thing. It was a covered and hidden spot so that she wouldn't be seen and attacked by other ninja.

Hinata looked around her. She was in a space in front of a tall rocky hill thing and lots of trees bent over and covered her so that no-one would know she was there.

"You're awake, huh?"

The sound of his voice jerked her to attention. "H-hai!" she said quickly.

Sasuke appeared in front of her. He held out some food to her. "Hurry up and eat. We should be able to get to the Sound Village today."

Hinata gratefully took the food and ate.

Sasuke turned away from her, taking his bags and throwing them over his shoulders. "We lost a lot of time with you being hurt and all that so we should get moving really soon."

"Y-Yeah,"

Hinata was actually feeling really really happy. She was just about completely recovered, except for maybe a couple of bruises and scratches and her side was still sore but she felt good!

To Sasuke's shock, she actually began to run/skip in front of him. Sasuke's mouth hung open.

"What the hell are you doing?" he cried.

Hinata turned around to look at him. She smiled, "C'mon, Uchiha-kun! You said we had to hurry so I'm hurrying!"

She went on with her happy skipping and daydreaming about Naruto.

Sasuke wasn't sure what to think. A faint blush spread over his face. Immediately he tried to get rid of it. His face just grew redder and redder as he got more and more annoyed at how red he was getting.

_GAAAHHH!! _He screamed in his mind. _What is this?!?? _

He tried in vain to calm himself. When he was a little more relaxed, he realized something surprising.

She wasn't scared of him anymore.

Well, that wasn't completely true. She still trembled and stuttered but she had gotten a little more confident. At first she had been so scared and terrified of him, but now she was brave enough to show a little bit of her personality.

Sasuke scowled. Man… this was annoying.

They were nearing the Sound Village when Hinata felt something very disturbing run down her spine. She wasn't sure what it was, but she felt like something really bad might happen.

Hinata bit her lip. Maybe it was some Sound Village thing. Maybe it was normal to feel completely petrified and chilled to the bone when you were about to enter the village. Hinata shivered uncontrollably.

Yet then again, maybe it wasn't.

Sasuke realized that Hinata had stopped being so bouncy. And he was a little worried to see that the light was gone from her eyes.

Sasuke looked around him. What was wrong anyway? He didn't feel anything wrong at all.

But he looked at Hinata, and she was shaking.

She stood stiff and unmoving, in the clearing, and her eyes were wide and fearful. She couldn't help it. This horribly cold sense of dread and uncontrollable fear took over her and she could hardly move.

Sasuke was really worried now. "Hinata-san? Hey, HINATA-SAN?!??"

She didn't respond.

Sasuke grabbed her shoulders and shook them, surprised at how light and small she seemed.

"Hinata!!" He shouted.

_What is wrong with her?!? _He had no idea what was happening.

Finally, Hinata said something really quietly, in a little gasp. "S-someone's here."

"So what?!?" Sasuke yelled. "So what if someone's here! What, are you scared or something? Why are you so petrified of someone coming?? You're a ninja! Even if it's a really powerful ninja, you have no excuse to just stand there frozen, moron!!"

Suddenly, he felt it too.

It was just a little and nowhere near as strong as Hinata felt it, but it was there. That blood-stopping chilling tremor that shook him to the bone.

Sasuke was immediately on his guard. "Who's there??" he yelled out. "What do you want?!?"

"Aww, that's so rude. Is that how you treat a person whose just here to pay his regards?"

"Huh? What?" Sasuke cried out.

Was it a teleportation jutsu or something? But all of a sudden, Sasuke turned and was face to face with the stranger.

Sasuke almost screamed like a girl.

He struggled to keep his cool. But it was so frightening that this random person's demeanor could shock him so badly.

Before Sasuke could react or do anything, the stranger ignored him and walked straight up to Hinata. Hinata was still paralyzed with fear. She couldn't help it. She wanted to scream but she had no voice. And her legs felt like lead.

Hinata's hand shook hard as she tried to move it towards her kunai pouch. Her fingers were tense and numb.

She tried to speak. "Wh-what… do you… want?" she managed to say, in a voice she could hardly recognize as her own.

"I just wanted to say hi to the famous Hyuuga heiress."

She couldn't say anything else. Hinata didn't know why but just then she felt as though his hands were on her neck. He hadn't done anything to her. All he had done was say a sentence, but she couldn't move.

Sasuke watched in shock, also taken aback by the strange things that happened from this person's presence.

"Miss Hyuuga… I've _always_ wanted to meet you," it was a friendly and polite voice. But it seemed so sickeningly fake and Hinata felt like she was going to vomit. She was no longer paralyzed and she stood there, sweating and breathing in and out heavily.

"I've heard _so much _about you," He continued.

It was only then that Sasuke really stopped worrying about what was happening to Hinata and concentrated on the frightening person.

He was wearing some kind of strange hood/cap that fell over his eyes and you could hardly see his face at all.

He was wearing a long black robe and a gray coat over it. He seemed un-armed without any weapons of any sort, and his voice seemed smooth and so confident.

"I just _had _to come and see you, Miss Hyuuga…" he paused, as if carefully choosing his next words. "…and I'm _so _glad I got to meet you,"

Hinata pulled a kunai knife from her pouch. It fell from her hands and onto the ground with a clang.

The stranger walked closer and closer to Hinata. Sasuke's heart beat faster and faster. He hated to admit it, but crap, he was so worried about Hinata. He needed to do something fast!

The stranger bent down so that Hinata's face was only inches away from his. "You see, Miss Hyuuga, I came here to-"

"Wait!!" Sasuke yelled out suddenly. He was slowly recovering from his shock and worry. He ran closer to the guy. "Why are you here?!? How come you seem to know so much about Hinata but she doesn't seem to know anything about YOU?!?"

"…" The guy said nothing. He raised his head a little and seemed thoughtful for a moment. He stepped away from Hinata and turned towards Sasuke. Sasuke couldn't see his face well, but he was sure that the stranger mouth was curved upwards in a kind of smile.

"I guess I should introduce myself." He said, as if the idea just occurred to him.

Now Sasuke was sure he was smiling. But not a smile of goodwill, it was a smile of evil and antagonism.

"My name is Jetsuuki," he said, "…and I HATE Hyuugas."

**Ooohh… well actually this Hyuuga-hating character was gonna come up a lot later in the fic but looks like he came a lot earlier, huh? Oh well. Yeah… angsty, huh? **

**Please read and review!! **


	7. I want to be strong!

**Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN NARUTO, OKKKAAYY??? **

**Hiya!! Welcome to chapter 7!! I'm so happy with the way things are turning out so far!! Wooohoo!! The last chapter actually turned out really popular, and I got plenty of reviews!! I'm really glad you all liked it!! **

**Everybody wants to know why Jetsuuki hates Hyuugas so much. Well, truth be told, he actually also hates Uchihas, but I don't plan on saying why until much later. **

**So, here's chapter 7. I hope you like it and read and review!! **

**Chapter Seven: I want to be strong!!! **

Sasuke was glaring at the stranger.

Hinata stood, fixed solid to her spot. Her whole body was telling her to move.

_C'mon, move!! C'mon, Hinata, don't just stand there!! _

This guy was freaking her out so badly. Every part of her body was frozen, and she knew full well that this guy was bad news. Something bad was gonna happen, definitely, and she knew she had to get away. She had to run, move, fight, _do something!! _But she couldn't move at all.

Jetsuuki was dangerously close. To Hinata's complete shock and horror, he leant down close to her face again and ran his hand down her face slowly. Hinata felt like he was choking her.

"I wanted to see how the great Hyuuga heiress fought, but to me you just seem so weak."

Sasuke was furious. He was angry for Hinata's sake, because even thought he hated her, he knew Hinata couldn't hate anyone, she was too pure. So… for that reason, he hated Jetsuuki for her.

"How can you just say that??" He yelled. "You have no idea how hard she tries and trains everyday!! You don't know how she pushes herself to be stronger all the time!! You… you don't know what it's like to be weak!!"

_Uchiha-kun… _Hinata watched Sasuke thoughtfully. _Why do you say that as though you know what it's like? You've always been strong… you've never been weak, Uchiha-kun… have you?_

Jetsuuki smirked, withdrawing his hand from Hinata's face.

"Really?" He stared at Sasuke straight in the eyes and a horrible chill shook Sasuke's body. Jetsuuki turned and faced Sasuke. "What its like to be weak, huh?? How would you know, boy?? How would you know what it's like to be weak, _Uchiha??_"

Sasuke's blood froze. He knew!!!

Jetsuuki faced Hinata once again. "Let's see your Hyuuga qualities, Miss Hyuuga… I know you have Hyuuga blood… and I can't wait till I get it on my hands."

"Hinata-san!! Don't fight him!!" Sasuke yelled out.

But Jetsuuki had already disappeared into the trees. Hinata tried to gather up her confidence. Sasuke could tell she was still terrified to pieces.

"N-no," she murmured, "I… I have to fight!! I'm… a ninja!! I won't… run away!!"

"HINATA!!!" Sasuke shouted, majorly pissed-off.

Before Sasuke could stop her, Hinata had also bounded off into the scenery.

Sasuke watched goggle-eyed as a battle began unfolding.

Shuriken started flying towards the place where Hinata suspected Jetsuuki was. Jetsuuki appeared there, for exactly 1 second and then he disappeared again. Hinata was panicked, wondering where he could pop up next.

Hinata had no time to activate Byakugan. Jetsuuki appeared right behind her. He swept her up, one arm under her chin and the other one with a kunai knife in it. Hinata struggled to escape.

"HINATA!!" Sasuke yelled again, as Jetsuuki stabbed the knife in her chest.

Hinata's figure seemed to flicker for a moment and then changed into a log from one of the trees.

"Substitution jutsu?" Jetsuuki said, "Please, Miss Hyuuga, old tricks like those will only save you for a couple more seconds…"

Hinata had appeared on a branch of a tree.

"…isn't that right?" He said smoothly as he found her again.

Hinata's eyes narrowed. She started making hand signs but wasn't fast enough. Before she could use any attack, Jetsuuki vanished again. Next thing she knew, all she could see was his figure flashing back and forth. He was so incredibly fast, she could only see his images for a second or so, before he was gone again.

While Hinata was confused and mesmerized in Jetsuuki's speed, he struck.

Incredibly thin and sharp needles started flying towards her. So fast Hinata was unable to dodge. And then Jetsuuki appeared and disappeared around her, closer and closer, each time cutting her with a kunai.

Hinata couldn't do anything. Everything went so fast, she barely had time to protect her self or even run away.

When Hinata was weakened, and hanging onto the last of her strength, Jetsuuki swooped in for the kill.

"I'm so disappointed," said Jetsuuki. "Miss Hyuuga, is that all you can do?"

Hinata panted for breath, every time she breathed, her chest gave an unbearable throb that made her cry out.

Jetsuuki glared at her. "I'm sick of playing games. I expected so much more from someone of the Hyuuga clan…"

He stepped up to her and grabbed her limp wrist, pulling her close. Blood dripped from her face and body. Her pale white-lavender eyes stared hollowly at him.

"You're so weak you make me sick." Jetsuuki said. "So much for a Hyuuga… so completely useless and pathetic. I can't believe I wasted my time looking for you."

Jetsuuki had Hinata in his arms and her blood spiling over his hands and clothes. More needles suddenly sprung up from his hand.

"You're such a waste of space." He said.

"Let her go!!" Sasuke cried. "She seems weak, yeah, but she's a lot stronger than you think!! So stop assuming the she's the worse there is!!! Hinata-san is… not like you!! She's pure and her heart is strong… she is weak, and she knows that!! Of course she knows that!! Every damn person in the whole village knows that and every one puts her down for it!! Stop saying she's weak and pitiful and feeble and useless!! How is she meant to get stronger if you keep pushing her down?!??"

Sasuke was fuming mad that someone could just turn up and assume things.

Jetsuuki glanced at Sasuke. "Oh, but… wasn't that what you thought too?"

Sasuke froze. His throat was dry.

His eyes widened. _Crap. He's right. He's right!! I… Whenever I thought of Hinata I would think that as well!!! I… I'm just as bad as he is!! _

"_All you'll do is drag me down!! You're completely weak!! You can't do anything!! You're the weakest there is!! And you're meant to be a Hyuuga?!? You're worthless and useless!!! You're completely pathetic!!!" _

_How could I be… so despicable??? _Sasuke was in shock. He looked back over at Jetsuuki who was just about to kill Hinata. Sasuke was so angry and furious at himself.

_Why am I like this?? How could I have been like this all along?? _

Jetsuuki was alarmed when Sasuke sped past, knocking him and Hinata away from each other.

_Because… I am just like him. I also think Hinata is a weakling and a moron. I…_

Sasuke flew up to Jetsuuki and jump-kicked him. Jetsuuki stumbled backwards but still remained on his feet. Sasuke was angry and furious at the whole world.

_I'm going on and on about this all!! But I'm the guilty one here! I'm such a hypocrite!! _

Sasuke's eyes were blazing with blood-lust. _Dammit!!! DAAMMMIIITT!! _

Sasuke was a monster, unstoppable with self-loathing hatred and anger.

_I hate myself. _

Sasuke hit and punched and kicked and fought so hard, it was his own fists that were bleeding. Jetsuuki would not go down. Sasuke finally stopped for a moment, breathing hard and fighting back hated tears filling up his eyes.

_I hate myself!! I hate being me!! I HATE MYSELF!!!! AAAAARRRGHHHHH!!! _

Sasuke's breathing was ragged and shallow. He stared angrily at the ground.

Hinata was on the ground beside him; she was still breathing and very much alive. She was bruised and bloody all over and tears were spilling down her cheeks onto the ground.

She slumped painfully on her knees letting tears fall and mingle with her blood.

Jetsuuki seemed bored. In fact, he had lost all interest for a fight.

He stood in the distance and spoke. "You're both pathetic. Especially you, Miss Hyuuga…"

Sasuke scowled with hatred at him.

"I have no interest in fighting or killing you. You're not worth it."

Sasuke felt anger. It brought back memories, those last few words. Memories he hated and disliked greatly.

"_You're not worth it." _

"I'll spare you for now," said Jetsuuki. "Go and train harder, Miss Hyuuga. We'll fight again soon, but next time to the death. It will happen nevertheless. When the time comes, we'll meet again, whether it is you who finds me, or me seeking you out."

Jetsuuki glanced at Sasuke. His voice was dangerous, "…that goes for you as well, Uchiha."

Jetsuuki vanished.

There was silence. Sasuke was unsure what to think or feel after those horrible emotions and memories had un-nerved him. He stood there for a while, trying to regain his cool composure.

Hinata's crying caught his attention. It wasn't the first time.

Sasuke scowled. Dammit, she cried way too much. But he tried not to think anything negative and mean about her.

"..." Sasuke leant down closer to Hinata's position. "…Hinata-san?"

Hinata was sobbing softly. Her hands shook painfully as she cried. Sasuke found it hard not to look at the bloody cuts and painful injuries all over her.

"…Uchiha-kun saved me again… why… why am I always so weak?? Why do I have to depend on someone else??? Every single time!! Every time… it's always someone else fighting for me… and rescuing me… every time… I'm always saved by somebody else… like… Shino-kun… or Kiba-kun… or Uchiha-kun… I-I…"

Hinata was at a loss with how weak she was. Her body was over-racked with emotions and tears wouldn't stop flowing.

"I don't like it!! I hate it!! Why… why am I so weak?? I…I'm… so useless…" she cried.

"…Hinata-san…" Sasuke started.

Hinata's cries were tearful and heart-wrenching. The tears kept rolling down her face, as painful as it was, they wouldn't stop.

"I… I want to be strong!!" She yelled. "D-Dammit… why can't I be strong…??" Hinata choked out. Hinata's shivering hands went up to her face, even though they were covered with blood.

Hinata hid her tears with her hands desperately, her tearful, mournful cries still being heard.

"I want to be strong!!!"

**That's chapter 7. I'm really pumped up about this!! I'm so happy the way this fic is turning out and I'm hoping you're all liking it!! Sasuke is starting to break down now, isn't he? I will make a chapter about his past very soon. **

**Sometimes, I find this fic very hard to write. Especially that last part when Sasuke and Hinata were overwhelmed by their emotions. I found it so hard to describe what they were feeling and how they were acting. I just couldn't find the right words!! It's strange, I can imagine everything they're doing, but I can't write it down in words!! ARRRGHHH SO FRUSTRATING!!!! **

**Anyway, that was me trying my very best. Please review!! Pleaseee!! **


	8. Caring more than I ever wanted

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!! So there!! **

**Hiya everybody! I wanna say a big thanks to everyone for their reviews!! The last chapter was a big hit, huh? Ha! Thankyou everyone! **

**To everyone who said that it was time for Hinata and Sasuke to train to get stronger and stronger, you're right!! It'll be a long and tough battle from here on in… so I'll train and get stronger too!! Yeahh!! **

**Thanks, everyone!! Here's chapter 8. Read and review!! **

**Chapter Eight: Caring more than I ever wanted **

"_I want to be strong!!!" _

It was Hinata's voice that rang out strong and true, though racked with tears. She had been crying so hard, yet trying so hard not to cry and show her weakness.

Sasuke sat there, lost in thought. He looked to his side where Hinata was asleep.

After the battle with Jetsuuki, Sasuke had picked up the bruised and bloody Hyuuga and taken her somewhere safe. And now they were in some small cave, and Hinata was lying there, asleep and Sasuke was sitting and thinking all his confusing thoughts.

_I don't understand this… I don't understand this myself… _Sasuke sighed and ran a hand through his black hair. He snuck a look at Hinata and quickly looked away again.

Face blushing bright red, Sasuke angrily scolded himself: _What are you doing, Uchiha Sasuke?? Are you crazy?? _

Sasuke looked over at Hinata again. _Crap, she's not even awake right now, it's not like she'd see me watching her like this!! _

Sasuke's ears burnt red like his face. He leant over Hinata.

_Ahh… dammit… why am I doing this?? _

Sasuke kissed Hinata gently.

_AAAARGHH!! WHAT DID I JUST DO?!? _Sasuke scrambled back away from Hinata and stood away from her, face burning up. Sasuke looked away from Hinata in embarrassment.

He slowly put up his hand and held it to his lips. _Why… did I do that??? _

Sasuke was cross and exasperated with himself. So he tried to stop thinking about it and fell asleep.

When Sasuke woke up, it was the middle of the night. He stood up and looked around, half-asleep. Hinata wasn't where she was before.

"Hinata-san?" Sasuke called.

There was no reply.

Sasuke heard a noise outside, so he crept outside to investigate.

Outside, the sky was dark and the stars seemed to shine brightly.

Hinata stood out there, training.

Sasuke stood there, watching, out of sight. He didn't understand. There was this small, strange and unfamiliar feeling bubbling in his chest. His face immediately turned red again.

Hinata was focusing all her chakra on her hands so that an eerie blue-ish glow enveloped them. She used incredible strength and speed and did a series of fighting moves. She moved so fast that everything she did was a blur.

Hinata panted, breathing really hard. She winced, her chest really hurt.

_Ahh… I hope I didn't reopen any of my wounds… _Hinata frowned.

She bent over, panting for breath, sweat rolling down her face and her face flushed red.

_I'm… so exhausted… _Hinata clenched her hands into fists. _But… I've gotta keep training… I won't lose again!! I'm… gonna beat Jetsuuki next time… huh… _

Hinata gasped out. Her body was feeling so limp and ached so much. Hinata's pale lavender-white eyes opened wide.

_Wh-who am I kidding??!? There's no way!! There's… absolutely no way… I'll never be strong!! _

Tears started sliding down her face again. Hinata lowered her head, unable to cope with her own pathetic self. She stared at her hands. They were bruised with cuts on them. They looked weary and tired and blood was starting to spurt out.

Hinata bit her lip to fight back the pain.

"Hinata-san…"

Hinata froze. Sasuke walked up to her.

"What are you doing?" he asked in his cold tone.

Hinata kept her gaze fixed on the ground so that he wouldn't see her face. "Uh…I-I…"

"You were training, weren't you?"

"Yeah."

"You're never gonna get any stronger if you train at night, especially when you're all exhausted and injured."

Hinata said nothing.

Sasuke turned his eyes skyward and sighed. _Damn, you really are a mess, aren't you?? _

"Look, get some sleep tonight and train tomorrow, okay?"

"What?? N-no… I can't!! It's not Uchiha-kun's fault that I'm… so weak!! I can't drag you down from completing the mission…!!"

Sasuke looked a little pissed off. He simply glared at Hinata and said, "Listen!! Go back to sleep right now and I'll train you tomorrow!!!"

Hinata lifted her head and stared at him. Her face was bright red. "U-Uchiha…"

Sasuke avoided her gaze. "You're not the only one who needs to get stronger, you know… I'm… also really weak…"

He suddenly realized he'd said something very un-Sasuke-like, so he got pissed and snapped at Hinata, "Just go to bed already!!!"

Hinata stiffened. "H-hai!!" She quickly ran off inside the cave.

Next morning, Sasuke and Hinata trained.

Sasuke probably really wasn't the best model teacher there was, since he was impatient most of the time and he kept snapping at Hinata. He found this annoying because normally he was as cool as a cucumber. He just happened to hate this Hyuuga loser a lot.

Sasuke also couldn't stop remembering about what he had done last night, and so it infuriated him even more.

But Hinata didn't mind. She was still amazed that the Uchiha had been nice enough to train her and help her.

They stopped training for a while to take a short break. They were both sweaty and tired, Hinata much more than Sasuke, and they stood, breathing hard.

After they had somewhat recovered, Sasuke said seriously, while staring Hinata straight in the eyes, "You're… actually really strong, Hinata-san."

"Huh…? WHAT??!?" Hinata's face went red and she was incredibly flustered. "Wh-what??! N-no! I-I…"

Sasuke stopped looking at Hinata and turned away from her. "You're a lot stronger than you think. You just think you're weak so you're not willing to push yourself further… you're a wimp so you're afraid… You _think _you're a weakling so you are one. You've gotta be more confident in yourself."

Hinata was silent again. She just didn't know what to think. Sasuke's kindness was overwhelming her.

"Anyway," Sasuke turned and smirked devilishly at her. "Let's fight."

"What??" Hinata almost fainted. "U-Uchiha-san, you're joking…"

Sasuke grunted, ignoring her shocked look. "You said you wanted to train and get stronger, right? Well… I need some training too so what do you think?"

Hinata was still very reluctant. "Uchiha-san is so strong; I won't be a match for you at all!!"

"Shut up and fight," was all Sasuke said.

Hinata was trembling and afraid, but she took a deep breath and gathered up all her courage. "Y-Yes!!"

Hinata and Sasuke fought each other. Sasuke was obviously much stronger, and Hinata was still very timid. After all, how could she possibly fight with Sasuke, one of the Uchihas?

But, slowly, after a while, she grew braver and started to put up a fight.

Sasuke aimed a kick towards Hinata but she blocked him quickly and attempted to attack him back. Sasuke ducked swiftly did handsigns.

"Gokakyu no Jutsu!!" he cried and blew a blast of fire at Hinata.

The fire burned brightly, and for a moment, Sasuke was completely shocked. _Crap!! What if I hit her?!? _

The fire died down, and the nervous Uchiha immediately ran towards where Hinata was. Or had been. She wasn't there. Sasuke was annoyed. Hinata had gotten the best of him. He turned around, just in time to see Hinata jump-kick him in the chest. Sasuke fell backwards.

"A-ahh!!" Hinata panicked. "Are you okay, Uchiha-kun??"

Sasuke groaned and sat up. "I'm fine. I just wasn't on my guard."

"Oh, okay!" She sounded relieved.

Sasuke grunted. "You really thought that was gonna hurt me?"

"What?? No!! No, of course not!!" Hinata cried.

Sasuke got up to his feet, turned away and stood there for a while, deep in thought. Hinata was steadily growing stronger and stronger, and he was glad for her. His face turned pink. _Wait!! No way!! There's absolutely no way I'm starting to care for that loser!! _He frowned. _I'm just glad she's making some progress… She's from Konoha after all, and we're on the same side, so that's why I'm glad, okay?!? _

"U-Uchiha-kun, why aren't you saying anything?" Hinata asked.

Sasuke didn't say anything. He just turned and stared at Hinata.

To Hinata's great surprise, his eyes didn't have the hate and icy coldness like usual when he looked at her. Hinata's cheeks grew warm.

Sasuke didn't know what he was doing. He reached out and patted her on the head. He had a somber expression on his face, lost in his thoughts, yet not having any idea what he was thinking about.

_Yeah. I don't have any feelings at all for this pathetic loser. I'm just… happy that we might be able to beat that jerk Jetsuuki next time!! _

What Sasuke didn't realize was that he was actually beginning to care. Care more than he had ever wanted to.

**Thanks for reading chapter 8!! I hope you liked it!! Read and review!! **


	9. A Night of Rain and Tears

**Hi you all!! I'm glad you liked chapter 8! We're up to chapter 9 now!! The plot is going to get really serious now, so hold on to your hats!! Huh… I think I used that saying wrong… anyway, enjoy!! Read and review!! **

_The rain is falling, just like I am. _

**Chapter Nine: A Night of Rain and Tears **

That night, rain poured down in torrents. It was dark and there were dark swirling purple clouds gathered in the skies. It was miserable and cold.

Hinata lay there, with blankets over her; just listening to the rain hit the ground. She didn't really want to sleep. Her eyelids were lowered over her white-lavender eyes.

_I really don't know why… rain always makes me think of old memories… memories I wish never existed. _

Hinata sat up and leaned against the wall of the cave. She curled up under her blankets and watched the rain fall. Thoughts and memories tumbled mercilessly around her. She squeezed her eyes shut and hugged herself tight, trying to protect herself from the harsh past.

Sasuke was lying on the other side of the cave, facing away from Hinata. He was lying there, wide awake. He could sense that the rain was making Hinata uncomfortable and that she also couldn't sleep.

"Hey…" Sasuke said aloud, "If you can't sleep, you don't have to be so quiet."

"Ahh!" Hinata cried, "I-I was trying to be silent… just in case you were t-trying to sleep, Uchiha-kun!!"

Sasuke got up from his lying-down position and sat up. He grunted as he sat against the wall and pulled his blankets up. The two ninjas were silent.

"Uh… um…" Hinata stammered, "Uh… I wanted to say thankyou for training me today, Sasuke…"

Sasuke just glared across the cave at the opposite wall.

"And thanks for saving me the day before," Hinata said. "I… I'm really grateful."

Sasuke still didn't look at her. He was annoyed that pink colour was starting to appear on his cheeks.

Hinata didn't mind that he wasn't replying. She kept her gaze lowered at the ground. "Every time I'm in trouble, someone's always there to rescue me… I'm so grateful," she continued.

Sasuke didn't make a sound. He knew that though she was grateful for it, it also burdened her. Even though she was glad someone would save her, she wished that she could be strong enough to fend for herself.

Sasuke thought back to the words she had uttered after the fight with Jetsuuki.

"…_Uchiha-kun saved me again… why… why am I always so weak?? Why do I have to depend on someone else??? Every single time!! Every time… it's always someone else fighting for me… and rescuing me… every time… I'm always saved by somebody else… like… Shino-kun… or Kiba-kun… or Uchiha-kun… I-I…"_

Hinata suddenly spoke up louder, and with a more cheerful tone, "D-do you think maybe one day, I'll be able to save _you_, Uchiha-kun??"

Sasuke finally made a sound. A disbelieving sarcastic sound.

She immediately bowed her head, disheartened. Hinata covered her dismay with a little chuckle, "Heh… yeah… I thought so… there's no way I'd ever be strong enough…"

_Argh!! Bloody hell!! She's such a moron!! _Sasuke clenched his fists in irritation. _Dammit, she's so darn stupid!! _Sasuke couldn't fight the heat spreading across his cheeks. _You've… already saved me once, Hinata… _He bit his lip as he remembered the incidence. He rested his head on his hand.

The cool air was blowing into the cave and both Sasuke and Hinata shivered. The rain wasn't showing any sign of stopping.

Hinata looked out at the rain and the miserable spirit around covered her. She hugged herself tighter.

_I… wish I was strong. _

_Father… father… why do you hate me so much?? _Hinata looked down at her feet. _I'm sorry… I can't be who you want me to be… I'm sorry!! I'm sorry!! I… I do want… to be strong!! _

Tears fell to the stone ground and left dark marks.

Sasuke immediately turned to Hinata. He wasn't sure why but every time she was crying, he would weaken. Every time he saw her tears or felt her pain… every single time it reminded him of his own dark past.

He snapped, "Dammit, Hinata!! Would you shut up??"

As soon as he had said that, he was sorry it had come out of his mouth.

Hinata struggled to stop crying. "S-sorry!!"

"_Oh, but… wasn't that what you thought too?"_

_Noo!! No! I'm not like that!! _Sasuke told himself over and over he was different to Jetsuuki, yet he was always so cruel to Hinata. Sasuke made himself calm down. He had to be patient.

"Why are you crying?" he asked more gently.

Hinata kept trying to hide her sadness, and trying to laugh but quite unsuccessfully. "I'm not crying!! I'm just… just…" she trailed off.

She couldn't hide it. Why was she trying to hide it in the first place? Everyone already knew.

Everybody in the whole village… they already knew that she was a disgrace. Everyone knew that she was a weakling, a loser, a pathetic wimp unworthy of the Hyuuga name. Everyone knew that she was hated by her father. Everyone knew that.

Hinata said softly, "You already know… why I'm crying, Uchiha-kun."

Sasuke said nothing. He had more or less guessed it before.

"Everybody in Konoha knows that I'm pathetic and weak… they all know that Father hates me and that Hanabi is much stronger than I am… And they're all right… I'm definitely not worthy of the Hyuuga name… especially being from the main branch!! I don't understand… if I'm so weak why was I born into the main branch of the Hyuuga family?!? Neji-nii should be in my place… I'm so useless… and I'm just a burden to everyone," Hinata said, tears building up in her eyes.

"Neji-nii is right…" she said, "I'm a failure… but if I'm a failure, why can't I do anything about it??!? He said… I'd always be a failure but what if I don't want to be the same?? What if… I want… to change??"

Hinata's tears fell silently down her cheeks; She didn't bother to fight them back anymore. The truth and the emotions she had kept bottled up inside had all been let out.

"I try to be strong. I train and I train… but I don't get any stronger… Why doesn't anyone accept me the way I am??" Hinata cried.

_Why doesn't anyone accept me the way I am?? _

Sasuke wasn't saying anything. Hinata brushed away her tears and looked over to where Sasuke was.

Outside, the wind howled and the rain plummeted harder.

"_You're not worth it."_

The cold rain brought back those memories. Sasuke tightened his fists and clenched his teeth angrily. Suddenly, the coldness around him seemed colder than ever and the darkness of the night seemed darker than it had ever been before.

_What its like to be weak… I only know that too well… _Sasuke sat there against the wall in the horrible cold silence. _I know what its like to be in her position… I understand her frustration… I've been through the pain as well… and I'm still… going through it…_

_If I know what its like… why?? _Sasuke's eyes widened. _Why have I been treating her so badly?!? _He bowed his head and clenched his jaw tight. _I am really just like him… Jetsuuki!! _

Hinata looked over at Sasuke in surprise. It was almost undetectable, but Hinata could see it, even in the dim light.

A single tear trickled down his face.

**End of chapter 9!! Did you like it?? Yeah, not much happened, but you always need a bit of quiet thoughtful time… next chapter will have some Sasuhina fluff… and it will end with a cliffhanger!! Yep!! Please read and review!! **


	10. Don't be Afraid To Cry

**Hey everybody!! emichii here!! I'm really glad that I'm getting so many reviews!! Woohoo! So… yeah… I have a really great idea for the next events happening in this fic. And if I was reading this and if I didn't write this, I'd be incredibly impatient with the things to come. But… that's the way this story's gonna go. I'm gonna try to make you all impatient, just so you'll understand what Sasuke goes through. But all that's only later on in the fic!! **

**So… read and review!! **

It was a lone tear that fell down Sasuke's face.

**Chapter Ten: Don't be Afraid to Cry **

Hinata was alarmed. "U-Uchiha-kun?!?" she cried. She was almost scared that the Uchiha was crying. "Are… are you crying?" she ventured carefully.

Sasuke scowled angrily and swiped at his eyes. "I'm not crying!!" he shouted, but the tears didn't stop.

Hinata was silent and worried. She was unsure of what to do. Slowly, she went and sat closer to Sasuke, against the cave wall. "Um…" she stammered, "W-won't you tell me… why you're so sad, Uchiha-kun?"

Sasuke said nothing.

He didn't want to look at her. He didn't want to say anything. He didn't want to!! He didn't want to share anything about his past! He wasn't going to tell her anything at all!! He wanted to keep everything to himself! The bitterness, the pain, the hurt, the memories…

Sasuke tensed and clenched his fists tightly. _I don't want to tell you… anything about me… _

"Why do you wanna know??" He snapped at her.

Hinata was fearful of the Uchiha, as she had always been. Over the past couple of days, she had gotten braver around him but she was still afraid.

"I…" Hinata fumbled over her words. "I-I… just wanted to try and help… I thought m-maybe… if I just listened to what you had to say, I might be able to..."

_Take away some of your pain. _

Hinata sat there against the wall, besides Sasuke, shivering in the chilly air. "Maybe it might make… you feel better, Uchiha-kun…"

Sasuke just glared across the cave, hatred burning in his eyes. But after a while, he eventually started talking.

"I've… been weak like you, Hinata-san." He said quietly. "Most of my life, I was weak… but maybe I was luckier because I was not bullied or hated or treated the way you were. People didn't take any notice of me at all. I was always living in the shadow of my brother…"

Hinata listened intently. It was so strange that the great Sasuke Uchiha was telling her all this. Imagine how jealous Sakura and Ino would be if they knew…

"I didn't want to be in his shadow!! I wanted to be noticed!! But Itachi was so talented and great at everything… I couldn't measure up! I was… jealous of the attention maybe… I just wanted to prove myself to my family. I wanted to show them that I was as good a ninja as he was, perhaps even better! I trained so hard… and I worked tirelessly but I just couldn't surpass him.

"Itachi saw that I wanted attention, so he tried to shift my father's interest my way. He even offered to train me, but he never did. My father did actually start spending more time with me, but I knew that I would never be equal to Itachi."

_You were trying… all along, to surpass someone greater than you, Uchiha-kun? I… I think my situation is similar to yours but also very different… _Hinata thought to herself, _I was just trying to live up to my father's expectations, but you were trying to prove yourself. _

"My brother's loyalty to the Uchiha clan started being challenged later on. He also started to become more competitive… He challenged me to become stronger and to surpass him… It was really strange, Itachi started to change… his personality became… warped."

Sasuke's eyes were wide and he seemed to be concerntrating, and reliving the past.

"Because Itachi had changed so much, my father finally started to pay attention to me. He started teaching me new techniques and I started developing them, and in even less time than Itachi had taken. Because of this, I finally was accepted into the Uchiha clan and I felt maybe I had finally gotten what I had wanted. The confidence my family used to have in my brother was gone, so my father told me not to follow Itachi's path…

"Maybe after that, I was satisfied for a while, because I had at last gotten what I had wished for… I got my dad to notice me and pay attention to me, but…"

Sasuke suddenly stopped. His eyes were darkened and he was deathly silent. Slowly, sparks of emotion re-appeared in his eyes, but they were not happy emotions. Anger and hatred and helplessness and sadness all mixed up into one, flashed over and over again through him.

Hinata had a very concerned look on her face. She turned to face Sasuke, looking at him earnestly through her white-lavender eyes. "…Uchiha-kun… what happened?"

Sasuke sighed deeply, a sigh of regret, anguish and deep sorrow. He bowed his head, black hair falling over his face. His voice was hoarse.

"He… killed them." Sasuke said. "He killed them!! He killed them all!! Every last one of the Uchiha clan was slaughtered… I just came home late one night, and I discovered that everyone was dead."

"Why…" Sasuke muttered. "Why?? Why must he take things from other people?? He always has… what I don't have! And when I had finally gotten the attention and the affection I had always wanted from my family, he had to take that away too! He had to… kill them…"

"U-Uchiha-kun," Hinata murmured.

Sasuke hated it, and he hated himself. Why had he been crying? He had said so much, yet he still couldn't understand what had made him cry. Was it just those old memories that he'd locked up inside. He had never let himself cry about it and now it was just all exploding? Or maybe, he'd finally realized that… he was just like them.

Jetsuuki… like him, he had judged Hinata and treated her like dirt…

And just like Itachi, he had turned into some bloodthirsty slaughterer, not even a second thought as he killed other ninja.

_Why… am I like this…? _Sasuke sat there in the dark, carrying those heavy burdens over his back.

Suddenly, he heard the familiar sound of Hinata's crying.

Angrily, he turned towards her. "Argh, dammit, Hinata!! Why do you have to keep crying all the time?!? Besides, this is none of your business, so why the heck are you bawling?!?" He yelled.

"I…I'm sorry," Hinata said softly, scared from Sasuke's yelling. "Because you never cry, Uchiha-kun… I decided I should cry for you,"

Sasuke was about to shout something else out but Hinata went on, "I know now you've had a hard past… and you seem like you're carrying so many troubles and burdens all by yourself… maybe if you would just let your feelings out, you would be able to lighten your loads,"

Sasuke was silent. Hinata was afraid of him, but she bravely spoke one last sentence.

"Just please… Uchiha-kun… Don't be afraid to cry."

"_Don't be afraid to cry."_

That simple sentence. It just brushed at his heart-strings. Those tears building up in his eyes… had they been triggered by Hinata's words?

Sasuke suddenly reached out and wrapped his arms around Hinata, who was sitting beside him. He did it on impulse and he himself was as surprised as Hinata was. Unsure why he did it, but he pulled her in close towards him and hugged her so tight.

Hinata's cheeks grew warm but she let Sasuke hug her. Sasuke's head went over her shoulder so that she couldn't see his face.

Sasuke thought that maybe he was beginning to understand. Maybe he had done that so that she wouldn't be able to see him cry. But for some other reason, he liked her being in his arms and he wanted to hold her like this.

The rain outside still didn't stop and kept falling harder than ever, but for some reason, the sound of the heavy rain hitting the ground, seemed to have a joyful melody.

It was morning and the rain from the night before was gone and the sun outside seemed to be compensating for the storm. It shone so brightly and the sky seemed so blue.

Sasuke had woken up. He'd fallen asleep in his sitting-against-the-wall-position. Hinata had been beside him before but now she was gone.

Sasuke groaned and got to his feet. He wandered sleepily out of the cave, looking for Hinata.

"Hinata-san?" he called. "Hinata-san!!"

Outside, it was quiet, except for the occasional breeze. Sasuke slowly started to get worried. He knew that Hinata would answer to him if she was there, but he heard nothing.

He grew panicked. "Hinata!! HINATA!!" Sasuke yelled out.

He looked but couldn't find her. And strangely enough, all of her belongings and stuff were still lying in her backpack in the cave.

It was when Sasuke looked around the cave for a second time when he saw it. It was lying there, stained in Hinata's blood.

Sasuke's eyes grew big and full of horror. Why was it lying there? Hinata would never have just left something so precious out here in the open.

It just lay there, bloodstained and worn.

That scroll that Hinata swore she would protect with her life.

**End of chapter 10!! Man, I am so happy the way this turned out!! Woohoo!! I have been planning and plotting this chapter out since very early in the fic. I've also carefully planned out the next three chapters too… and now it's finally time to reveal my hard work!! Woohoo!! So, I hope you enjoyed!! Read and review, okay?? **

**emichii!! **


	11. Don't Look for Me

**Mwahahahahaaaa!!! Hear the cry of emichii's inner evil!! GYAAAHHH!! **

**Eh heh heh… Thankyou for all your reviews!! I'm glad that you all liked the last chapter!! Sweet, wasn't it? And everyone is freaking out at Hinata's disappearance, except of course, me! **

**There are people asking if I killed Hinata. Oh COME ON, get real!! You really think I would do that?? Even in my other super-angsty fanfic, no-one died. Anyway, speaking of Hinata, you wanna know what happened to her that morning? **

**Well, this chapter is entirely devoted to what happened that fateful morning. Let's all go to flash-back mode!! Yaayyy! **

**Don't own Naruto. Read and review!! **

**Chapter Eleven: Don't look for me **

Sasuke stared at the scroll for a moment before he actually bent down and picked it up. He held it there in his hands. It felt so worn and the specks of blood on it still seemed fresh. It seemed to have Hinata's presence.

He knew it was stupid and foolish, but he did it anyway. There was no-one to see him or torment him about it. He stood there, still, just letting the sense of Hinata linger over him.

He tightened his grip on the scroll, with a scowl on his face. He was worried, yet also angry. Where the heck had Hinata gone? Dammit, that girl couldn't do anything without getting into trouble, could she?

Sasuke knew it was completely out of character for him to care this much. He knew before, but he had told himself over and over again, that he would never have any feelings of any sort for Hinata. Crap, he _hated_ her, remember? He thought she was a weakling, a loser, a wimp- the worst of the worst!

But he couldn't stop this troubled feeling rising up in him.

What had happened to Hinata?

_XxxFlashbackxxX Two hours earlier… _

Hinata crept out of the cave quietly. The rain from the night before had stopped, and the sun was still slowly rising. The remains of last night's rain were over the grass and ground.

Hinata was feeling cheerful.

She didn't know why she was so happy. Maybe it was just because Sasuke had told her about his past. It had been such a carefully-guarded secret, yet he was willing to let her in on it. Hinata smiled brightly to herself.

Thinking back, her cheeks warmed when she recalled Sasuke hugging her.

_Ahh man… _she muttered in her mind, _that was embarrassing… _

She just stood there for a while, recollecting her thoughts. _It's really weird… why am I starting to feel like this about Uchiha-kun?? It's not like I have a crush on him or anything… I like Naruto! B-but… _Hinata's cheeks were bright red.

She shook her head, greatly flustered.

Hinata started to walk off to get some water from the stream near by.

Suddenly, she froze.

She couldn't move. It was a strange, scary, familiar tremor that ran throughout her entire body. It was like… someone was strangling here… someone's evil intent.

Her eyes widened. Her legs shook and she trembled violently. She couldn't stop her body shaking. She… she recognized this! This was… This could only be…

"-Jetsuuki!" She gasped out.

He materialized from the trees. "Hello, Miss Hyuuga. I'm so flattered you remember me,"

Hinata tried to sound brave and sure of herself, but her voice was weak and frightened. "Why are you here?" she managed to cry out.

Jetsuuki towered above her. She was close to him, but still couldn't see much of his face. He said in his smooth, confident tone, "I said I would come back and fight again. That's why I'm here. Last time, you disappointed me greatly, Miss Hyuuga. For someone who is called the Hyuuga heiress, the fight you put up was worse than pathetic."

Hinata said nothing. Memories of their last fight came flying back to her. She struggled to break away from the strong grip Jetsuuki's evil tremor had over her.

"It hasn't been that long since the fight, Miss Hyuuga. You haven't had much time to get stronger at all. In fact, it's virtually _impossible _for you to have gotten better. Actually, you could never get stronger ever!! Not in a million years, Miss Hyuuga. I can see that look you have in your eyes. No, Miss Hyuuga, you look as though you are resisting, but you should know by now, you can never improve."

Hinata let out a whimper.

Jetsuuki smirked and kept throwing the painful insults at her. "You've been pushed down over and over again. Why do you still try to get up? Haven't you learnt yet?? It's IMPOSSIBLE!! You will never get stronger!! You can't do anything!! You may have trained hard for the last couple of days, but you will never get better!! You… can't do anything, Miss Hyuuga…"

Sweat ran down Hinata's face. Her pale white/lavender eyes were wide and full of fear, regret, and hopelessness.

"Yes… you and I both know that you are a disgrace."

_No… NO!! _Hinata screamed out in her mind. _No! I train hard… all the time… Even Uchiha-kun was pushed down over and over again… He was weak… but he still managed to get stronger!! Uchiha-kun didn't stop training or hoping for better things to come… And so, he got stronger!! He was weak, but now he is strong! He became one of the strongest young ninja in Konoha!! I have trained hard too… do you honestly believe that? Do you?? _

Hinata fought hard against herself. She could still feel the invisible bonds that Jetsuuki had been able to tie her with. She wasn't weak! She knew she was _weaker_ than others, but she was still not totally useless!!

_I believe I trained hard!! And I honestly believe… that even if it is just a little- even if it is just a tiny, miniscule little bit… I HAVE gotten stronger!! I don't want to be tied down anymore!! I WON'T be tied down!! Not by you, Jetsuuki… not by anyone!! NOOO!! _

Hinata wasn't sure how, but she felt newfound power and strength just surging through her. Suddenly, she wasn't bound by anyone anymore. She could stare at Jetsuuki and not feel scared at all. The tremor had gone. She was no longer frozen still, she was no longer scared stiff.

"…Jetsuuki," Her voice was still a little timid, but there was strength behind it. "You want to see how much stronger I have become??" Hinata darted into the air, whipping weapons out, "Then I'll show you!!"

Hinata was gone. Disappeared into thin air.

Jetsuuki was not easily fooled. He was a top ninja, and very skillful. He turned around and said out loud to nothing, "You're right here, Miss Hyuuga."

Indeed, she was. But Hinata appeared with a flying kick into Jetsuuki's face. Quick as lighting, Jetsuuki shot out a hand and grabbed Hinata's ankle.

Hinata threw herself back towards the ground and back-flipped, with Jetsuuki still holding onto her foot. Jetsuuki seemed to hit the ground hard, but when Hinata looked at the ground, he was nowhere to be seen.

All of a sudden, there was the sound of a cut. _Sshhhiik._

Then a small stream of blood burst forth into the air. Hinata stood shock still as the new cut appeared across her cheek.

"Aagh!" She let out a small cry.

She reached up and tried to stop the bleeding. But there was no time.

Jetsuuki bore down again, a heavy blow with his arm over her shoulder. Hinata went flying backwards to the ground. She groaned and quickly jumped up to her feet again. Jetsuuki was coming down on her from behind and she immediately jumped up and back-somersaulted with her legs sticking out, hooking him with a foot over his shoulder. Jetsuuki went flying into a tree.

Hinata stood there, chest puffing up and down. She wiped blood from her cheek, while watching Jetsuuki intently. He got up. He sauntered casually over to Hinata.

"You think you've gotten stronger? Well, Miss Hyuuga, just to be nice, I'll tell you that you have. You've managed to become a lot stronger than you were last time; but sadly, the truth is, that won't make a difference."

He advanced on Hinata, drawing out a very long kunai. He ran towards her now, so fast he looked like a blur.

"It won't make a difference!!" He shouted, as he attacked. "You will never be able to defeat me!!"

Hinata coughed out blood. She lay there on the ground, feeling the huge gash across her shoulders to its fullness. She was exhausted, unable to move. Jetsuuki stood triumphantly beside her.

Without warning, he suddenly kicked her at maximum power. Hinata cried out in pain. He dug the heel of his shoe into her stomach, deeper and harder.

"You really think getting a little stronger will help?? I'm telling you now; you won't even be able to cut me once!!" Jetsuuki said loudly.

Hinata gasped out. The pain was just about unbearable. It tore at her flesh, it enveloped her. Tears ran from her eyes. _No… how could I? I should… I should be able to do more!! _

_I'm able to do much more!! _

Hinata rose slowly to her feet, biting her lip, hiding the pain as best as she could. She stumbled and she was slow as she stood up.

Jetsuuki sent another kick at her. She fell back a few steps, winded. But she wouldn't go down. She was weakening and she was in so much pain. Blood dripped. But… she wasn't done yet.

"Byakugan!!" She yelled out.

Her all-seeing Hyuuga eyes helped her. Jetsuuki came at her again and again, but she managed to evade, only just. He moved at such alarming speeds she had never seen before.

Hinata coughed painfully, another torrent of blood flying out. Just then Jetsuuki came from behind her. She immediately grabbed his hand and his wrist and threw him over her shoulder.

Jetsuuki landed on the ground but pulled himself up to his feet. Before he could attack, or even guard himself, Hinata had yanked out a long kunai knife herself and was running towards him at tremendous speed.

At the last second, just as Hinata was about to strike, he jumped backwards and seemed to make Hinata miss. But Hinata jumped up herself and came down behind him, and in one swift moment cut his side.

Hinata wobbled on her feet. Jetsuuki just stood up straighter, even thought there was a gaping wound at his side and blood pouring out from it.

Jetsuuki held back the pain. Hinata's steps were unbalanced and weak. She opened her mouth a said, barely above a whisper:

"See… I have just cut you, Jetsuuki…"

She was happy yet completely winded at the same time. She could barely put one foot in front of the other.

Jetsuuki darted towards her and threw and arm around her neck. Hinata tried to struggle, but her normal futile attempts were even more pathetic this time. Her white-lavender eyes were being covered by heavy eyelids, though she tried to keep them open.

Jetsuuki tightened his arm around Hinata's throat. Hinata choked and more blood came from her mouth. Sweat, tears and blood ran down her face and mingled together. Her pale hands went up over Jetsuuki's arms and pulled and struggled in vain.

Jetsuuki's intention, however, wasn't to kill her. It may have just occurred to him in that instant, but he seemed to have plans for the Hyuuga heiress. Jetsuuki loosened his grip on Hinata, but Hinata didn't try to escape. She was already so weak she could barely lift a finger.

Jetsuuki kept the captured girl in his arms and slowly started to walk away.

Hinata suddenly blinked her eyes open. All of her movements were so slow and painful. _I can't… move… I can barely do anything at all… everything is so slow… but…_

The weight of the scroll was still in Hinata's pocket. It hung there, so she was unable to forget about it. She had promised to protect it with her life. But she was so weak right now… what could she do? Anyone could just take it off her.

Hinata's eyes hardened. _I can't let anyone do that… I have to get it somewhere safe… _

With fingers as heavy as lead and movements painfully slow, she managed to take the scroll out and hold in her bloody hands for a short moment. At last, with her feeble strength, she flung it towards the cave as hard as she could. Perhaps it would reach Sasuke.

Tears built up in her eyes.

_Uchiha-kun… I have tried my best… But it seems I was still unable to defeat him… I'm not sure where I'm going, but I know my top priority is still the scroll that Lady Tsunade entrusted us with… the best way to keep it safe is to leave it with you… so please just take it and complete the ninja mission. _

_Don't look for me, Uchiha-kun…_

_Don't follow me or try to find me. I'm sorry… I have been burdening you and slowing you down all this time… So please just take that scroll… and complete the mission. _

…_Just please don't look for me…_

_Goodbye, Uchiha-kun. _

**Man!! And Sasuke slept through all that?? Thanks for reading chapter 11, everybody!! Read and review!! **


	12. Thoughts, Feelings and Threats

**YO!! How are ya all?? First of all, thankyou to all of you for reading!! Yaayyy!! And thanks for all your overwhelming support and all your wonderful reviews!! Thankyou!! Chapter 12 then, huh? Wow… sure goes fast… here it is!! Enjoy!! **

**Chapter Twelve: Thoughts, Feelings and Threats **

_AARRGHHH!! DARN YOU, HINATA!! _Sasuke screamed in his mind. _WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SO FRICKIN' NOBLE??? _

Sasuke was clutching the scroll in his hand. It was strange, but he could feel Hinata's spirit, and it was as though he could tell what Hinata wanted him to do with it.

_Don't follow me or try to find me. I'm sorry… I have been burdening you and slowing you down all this time… So please just take that scroll… and complete the mission. _

"Oh, damn you!!" Sasuke blew up angrily. "You expect me to complete the mission and leave you??"

…_Just please don't look for me…_

_Oops. _Sasuke's face flushed red and he quickly put a hand to his mouth. _I just yelled out all that stuff out loud!! I must be insane!! _

_Goodbye, Uchiha-kun._

Sasuke glowered in anger as he took his and Hinata's stuff and slung them over his back. He was just so angry at Hinata, and at himself.

_SHE'S SUCH A DUMBASS!! _Sasuke frowned. He gazed down at the scroll. His eyes lowered and narrowed as emotions took over him.

_I don't get it, Hinata. Where did you go? And why is your blood on the ground? _Sasuke couldn't help the growing feelings of worry and anxiety take over him. He was frustrated at himself too.

_AARGHH!! I don't like her, I don't!! I'm just worried, okay??? I hate you, Hinata! And I'm so damn pissed at you for disappearing like that!! Hinata, you loser!! I-I… _

Sasuke sighed. He tightened his grip on the scroll. Who was he trying to kid?

It was so obvious. He knew it himself. It was right there, in front of him, staring him in the face. How long had it been there, tormenting him and irritating him?

Sasuke let out a slow distressed breath. He already knew it.

He loved her.

Sasuke ran through the forest, the trees and the long haunting shadows on the ground.

_Dammit, Hinata! Where did you go?? _He thought.

He ran faster, looking around him as he went. Stress was visible all over his face. It was around this time when he realized. Hinata hadn't disappeared by herself. She had been _taken away_. And hurt too, as he could tell from the blood.

_Hinata… _Panic rose up in Sasuke. He could clearly remember the sight of blood outside the cave. He clenched his teeth as he ran even faster. _Whoever did that… whoever it was that hurt Hinata… whoever it was that took her away… _Sasuke felt the familiar burning sensation inside him that made him want to kill for revenge. It made him thirst for bloodshed.

_Whoever it was… that made her bleed… _Sasuke's dark eyes seemed to get even darker. _I'm swearing right now… I'll kill you!! _

Thoughts of her and memories of her just seemed to come into mind. It was still strange, Sasuke decided, that out of all the girls in Konoha, the one he actually ended up liking was the one girl who didn't like him. And happened to have a crush on Naruto too!

Sasuke couldn't help feeling a little jealous thinking about it.

He had always thought that Hinata was… a waste of space. She couldn't do anything. And she was so weak and shy and nervous and- Argh! She just infuriated him.

Maybe she just reached him, because she had a way of getting to him. For some reason, even if it was just a simple sentence, Hinata's words reached inside him.

"_Uchiha-san… how can you… how can you kill someone… without feeling anything… at… all?!??"_

It was so weird and unfamiliar to Sasuke.

"…_we… should bury him, shouldn't we, Uchiha-san?" _

She was so different from all the others. She was weak, yes, and she stuttered in the most annoying manner, but there was something special about her. She just seemed so pure and innocent… so full of goodness, even thought she had gone through so much in the past.

"_Uchiha-san… you're actually really nice!!"_

The image of Hinata on his back, smiling at him like that... Sasuke felt his face heat up and his face mercilessly glow red.

"_Uchiha-kun… you can't kill them… because they are living… too!! You can't take away their lives like that… you can't!! Uchiha-kun… don't- DON'T KILL THEM!!" _

How come she was the only one who could stop his evil blood-lusting self?

"_C'mon, Uchiha-kun! You said we had to hurry so I'm hurrying!" _

"_I… I have to fight!! I'm… a ninja!! I won't… run away!!" _

"_I want to be strong!!!" _

"_D-do you think maybe one day, I'll be able to save you, Uchiha-kun??" _

"_I try to be strong. I train and I train… but I don't get any stronger… Why doesn't anyone accept me the way I am??"_

"_I…I'm sorry. Because you never cry, Uchiha-kun… I decided I should cry for you… I know now you've had a hard past… and you seem like you're carrying so many troubles and burdens all by yourself… maybe if you would just let your feelings out, you would be able to lighten yo__ur loads."_

Sasuke was silent and still. He had stopped running and was caught in the words Hinata had said to him last night.

"_Just please… Uchiha-kun… Don't be afraid to cry." _

_Why is it that I… am drawn to her so much? _Sasuke pondered inside his weak and troubled soul. _She is just so… I don't know… she just needs to say a few words and I go weak… And she's not afraid to listen to my troubles and she was willing to even cry for me. _

_Is it just because she was there that night? All she did was sit beside me and listen. And she cried tears for me, because at that time I was unable to do it myself. And she told me the very words I needed to hear. _

Sasuke stood alone in the forest-like place, and raised his head to look at the beautiful blue sky. _Is it because you are just there beside me that you've managed to take my heart?? _

Suddenly, a disturbing and alarming memory rang in Sasuke's head. That other night when he had stolen a kiss from Hinata!! Sasuke immediately felt dirty and bad, like some kind of lecherous pervert. His face went from pink to absolutely flaming fire red.

"AARGHH, NOOO!!" He shouted out in frustration.

"What's this? Talking to yourself, Uchiha?" An unfamiliar voice came from the trees.

Sasuke was immediately on guard. He whirled around to face where he thought the voice had come from. "Who are you?!? What do you want??"

A ninja with green eyes stared straight back at him. He seemed vaguely familiar to Sasuke, yet there was also something very different about this guy.

Suddenly, recognition sparked in Sasuke's eyes. His eyes grew large.

"You!!" He managed to cry out.

The ninja sprang down from the branches and stood across from him.

He gave Sasuke a smirk. "I'm glad you haven't forgotten me, Uchiha."

"Why are you here??" Sasuke demanded. "What do you want??"

"Oh, stop asking questions!" The ninja snapped. "I'm going to tell you!!"

Sasuke glared at the ninja and the ninja simply stared back at him. Yes, he was the same person, but he seemed to have gained so much confidence and he looked a lot stronger. Sasuke felt annoyed and panicked. Dammit!! He didn't have the time to talk to this ninja!! He had to go after Hinata!!

"Don't think I haven't forgotten what you did, Uchiha. You killed my best friend!!" The ninja exclaimed. "You don't know my name and why I'm here yet, so I'll tell you."

Sasuke glared at him, full of frustration.

The ninja glared with hatred straight into Sasuke's black eyes.

"My name is Kitake Minabi and because you killed Renn, I'm going to kill you!!"

**Eh heh heh… I've been meaning to get this guy back in the story. Does anyone remember him? He didn't actually have a name before; I just referred to him as 'the burnt ninja' or something like that. I just had to put him in now right when Sasuke is impatient and urgent. Hahaha!! Well, hope you liked this chapter!! Please review!! **


	13. Kitake, An Ally Within the Enemy

**I don't own Naruto!! **

**Konnichiwa!! emichii here!! Thanks for all your reviews, everyone!! I'm so happy that we're here at chapter 13!! Wow!! I want to congratulate everyone who remembered Kitake!! Congrats!! You see he was formerly known as 'the other ninja' or 'the ninja who got scorched'. D'ya remember Renn? He was the poor guy that Sasuke so brutally slaughtered in chapter 3. But hey, it's been 9 chapters now since Kitake's appearance, so I guess there'd be a lot of you that won't recall him. **

**Anyway, I'm happy to have him back!! I know lotsa you were distressed and sad when Renn was killed… and I knew that Kitake wouldn't just leave this story like that. So… chapter 13 then!! Hope you enjoy!! **

**Chapter Thirteen: Kitake- An Ally within the Enemy **

"…I'm going to kill you!!"

Sasuke grunted. He was standing there in the shade of the trees; in the area outside the Sound Village. He was glaring, full of deep hatred and frustration, at the ninja standing across from him.

The ninja's unusually intense green eyes calmly met his gaze. Kitake had indeed changed since their last encounter. Before, Sasuke would barely have cast him a second-glance. Kitake would just have been another small fry, hardly worth training on.

But now it was different.

Perhaps, Kitake had grown stronger. He had vowed to avenge his best friend Renn. He was so serious about it. He had taken time to train and get stronger and stronger. There wasn't a single day when he didn't think about Renn. Every single day, he had pushed himself on and on. He had sworn to himself over and over again.

He told himself every day. Even when he was bleeding and exhausted it was that one thing that pushed Kitake forward.

_I have to kill Uchiha Sasuke. _

Then again, Sasuke had also changed. He saw things differently now. It was because of the time he had spent with Hinata.

"You don't know what I went through after Renn died!!" Kitake shouted. "You have absolutely no idea how much I suffered!! I lost my best friend!! I had to watch him be killed right in front of me! But then, you wouldn't understand?"

Kitake calmed himself down. His voice grew softer and more dangerous. "You wouldn't have a clue what it's like to have a friend, right, Uchiha??"

Before Sasuke could retort, Kitake leapt up into the air brandishing a long sharp scythe-like knife. There was a long chain attached to the knife and another knife dangling off the other end.

Kitake's voice blared up again: "I'll never forgive you for what you did, Uchiha!!"

Sasuke was still dazed from all this information to take in. Before, these things wouldn't have mattered to him at all. He wouldn't even have thought about the other person's point of view. He wouldn't care about anyone but himself. He could've just killed him as easily as he killed others.

But…

Hinata had changed him. He was different. And he was unsure if these changes were a good thing or not.

Kitake beared on him, expertly swinging the chain. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOUU!!" He screamed.

At the last minute, Sasuke saw Kitake coming and got out of the way. Kitake easily held his ground. He stood there, staring at Sasuke with his green eyes and brandishing his weapon.

"I know you may have been stronger than me before, Uchiha," Kitake cried, "but I've gotten stronger now!! And I'm not afraid of you!!" He ran forward at top speed.

Sasuke had finally found his focus, but he had no will to fight. As Kitake's flying weapon came towards contact with his leg, Sasuke did a high jump into the air.

Immediately, the other end of Kitake's chain-knife flew towards Sasuke's cheek. Sasuke's eyes widened and he flipped backwards in an attempt to avoid it.

Sasuke managed to escape from a fatal slash, but a thin painful cut appeared on his face.

Kitake continued to chase Sasuke through the trees as Sasuke carefully dodged and weaved past him.

Kitake was sweating through his effort and incredibly irritated. "Stop trying to run away, Uchiha!!" He shouted, "Stop running and fight me properly!!"

Sasuke once again ducked a flying swing of Kitake's chain. Kitake was furious.

"What's wrong with you??" He yelled. "I though you loved to fight and kill!! Why aren't you fighting me??"

Sasuke gave Kitake a steady and hard stare. It silenced Kitake immediately because of Sasuke's grim seriousness.

"I don't have any time to fight with you, Minabi," Sasuke said.

"WHAT??" Kitake's teeth showed as he cried out. "ARE YOU CRAZY??" He whipped out ten or so shuriken and flung them at Sasuke. "I spent so much time training and getting stronger!! I perfected my moves to a level that couldn't get any higher!! Are you just going to let all my work go to waste??"

Sasuke easily dodged the shuriken. "I told you, I have no time to mess around with you!!"

"How dare you?? I even spent time tracking you down and finding you! You're not going to go without a fight!!"

Kitake was right behind Sasuke. At last, all of Kitake's words got to Sasuke and greatly infuriated him.

"I TOLD YOU!!" Sasuke yelled. "I HAVE SOMETHING ELSE I'VE GOTTA DO!!" He crouched down and sent a huge kick at Kitake.

Kitake went flying backwards into the ground with a loud thud.

Sasuke was very angry now. He had absolutely no time to fight anyone. And now this guy had seriously got on his nerves!!

Kitake was not easily pushed down. He got to his feet, coughing. He had bruises and scratches all over him but his green eyes held even more determination than ever. He glared at Sasuke. "Oh yeah??" He retorted. "What else can be so much more important than fighting me??!?"

Sasuke shouted out, "I have to save someone precious to me!!"

His eyes were dark and flashing angrily as he advanced onto Kitake. "And YOU got in the way!!"

Kitake picked up his scythe-like blade from the ground. The chain attached to it reached down to the ground. Kitake gave Sasuke an evil grin. "If you're so angry, then fight me!!"

Sasuke furiously started raining fast and hard punches at Kitake. Kitake blocked the first few ones and were battered by the rest. However, he still wasn't beaten.

"Why are you so damn determined to fight me?" Sasuke yelled.

"Because you killed Renn!!" Kitake shot back. "You wouldn't even be the smallest bit merciful!! You had to kill him!! You had to fight him and beat him up. You made him vomit blood! And even when he was lying helpless on the ground, you had to keep punching him, even though you knew he had already lost!! He was already in so much pain, yet you did even more damage to his lungs that he had trouble breathing and died so cruelly!!! You did all that!! And you never even thought about how he was another human- another precious life!!"

Kitake had tears brimming in his eyes. He stood, panting hard for breath, his hands still clenched in fists. "You never even gave me a chance to bury him!! You could've at least let him have a proper grave!!"

Suddenly, the two of them were silent and still. They were breathing hard and tired, Kitake much more exhausted than Sasuke was.

Sasuke kept his gaze fixed on the ground. His black hair hid his dark eyes.

"Minabi…" he said quietly.

Kitake stared furiously at him. "What?"

"You know…" Sasuke said, "That friend of yours… the ninja I killed… he did get buried… and prayed for."

Kitake eyes were wide and confused. "Who…??" He asked, his voice trembling.

Sasuke slowly raised his head and steadily looked Kitake in the eyes. "The person who cared for your friend and buried the enemy was Hinata Hyuuga. She's the one who cried for your friend."

Kitake was so surprised with this information. Immediately, his hands started shaking violently, as did his voice. He slowly fell to his knees, eyes opened so wide and tears starting to brim from them.

He couldn't help it. It was such a… relieving feeing of happiness that washed over him. It made him feel so relieved and glad to know that his best friend had been put to rest and buried.

"I…I…" Kitake couldn't stop the tears flowing from his eyes. He was on his knees and he started lowering his head towards the eyes. "…that girl… I have to… thank her so much!! I'm so…grateful...!"

Sasuke watched him. His own emotions were bubbling inside of him. And all he could do was watch Kitake, and fight back his own tears that were trying to escape.

Suddenly, Kitake raised his head and looked at Sasuke. "What happened to that girl who was with you?"

Sasuke felt himself freeze up. "She…" he started, but couldn't continue. "She-" He tried again, but felt himself choke up. He didn't want to say the horrible fact that had tormented him.

"She…" He whispered, lowering his head. "She's gone."

Kitake frowned. "What?? Whaddaya mean she's gone?? What happened to her??"

"She was taken away. Someone found her and hurt her. They made her bleed and spilt her blood all over the ground."

"So…" Kitake's voice was shivering.

"That's what I was trying to do," Sasuke said louder and very determined. "The reason I couldn't fight you, the reason I was in such a hurry, it was all because of her!! Because someone took her away from me!!"

Kitake could only stare at him in thoughtful silence. Sasuke gritted his teeth and burst out angrily: "Someone took her from me and I have to get her back!!!"

They were quiet and still. And then, Kitake jumped to his feet. Sasuke watched him, dumbstruck.

"Well then," he said, determination glowing in his green eyes, "I'll just have to help you rescue her!"

Sasuke's mouth dropped open. "WHAT?"

Kitake took a couple of steps forward ahead of Sasuke. He said, "I know you guys are the enemy. But that girl… I saw her and I knew that she was different. Just from one glance you could tell she wasn't suited to be a ninja. She's way too innocent and too pure for us. She's the kind of person who'll bury the enemy. But…"

Kitake turned around and gave Sasuke a big bright determined smile.

"She buried Renn and I owe her a large debt. Because of that, I'm going with you to rescue her!!"

Sasuke was still flabbergasted and his mouth still hung open. "B-b-but…" he stammered.

Kitake seemed to have all his worries and anger removed from him. "I know I was trying to kill you earlier, but this changes everything. I'm just so happy Renn got buried properly… so I have to find this Hinata girl and thank her deeply."

Kitake smiled. "Let's team up, huh, Uchiha?"

Sasuke opened his mouth. He closed it again. The old him would certainly have refused and angrily beaten up the other guy. But because of Hinata, he was wiling.

Sasuke grinned devilishly. "Okay!"

**YESS!! AWESOME CHAPPIE, EH??? I reckon I've improved so much with writing fighting scenes. I use to find them ever so hard to write about. But these last two fight scenes have been so good!! I am so proud of them!! Don't you think they're pretty cool too?? **

**So, Kitake and Sasuke team up!! WOOHOO!! Ahh… Kitake is really starting to grow on me. What do you guys think?? Isn't he so awesome?? **

**Well then, don't forget to review!! Seeya!! emichii!! **


	14. The Sound Village

**Disclaimer: Naruto is not mine. **

**Yeah!! That last chapter was so good!! Woohoo!! Kitake is such an awesome character!! Eh heh! Anyway, here's chapter 14!! Read and review!! **

**Chapter Fourteen: The Sound Village **

"What was the mission supposed to be in the first place?"

Sasuke had the scroll tucked safely in his pocket. He pulled it out and showed it to Kitake. "This. We were supposed to deliver it to the Otokage."

"Oh…" Kitake said.

The two were standing outside the entrance to the Sound Village. It had made Sasuke a little nervous at first when they had arrived, because he recalled the terrifying experience he had had there last time.

The blood-freezing, bone-chilling tremor that was there last… seemed to have subsided a little. But it was still there.

Sasuke bit his lip. He had decided that the scary feeling had come from Jetsuuki, so it definitely meant Jetsuuki was further inside the village.

Sasuke's gaze hardened. And if Jetsuuki was there… Hinata would definitely be nearby.

Sasuke was already pretty certain that Hinata's disappearance was linked to Jetsuuki. He kept trying to convince himself that Hinata was all right, and that she was still alive. Yet deep inside the dark part of his mind, he feared that she was already dead.

When he thought of Jetsuuki, even when he just heard his name in his head, he immediately felt revenge. He couldn't stop the dark, uncontrollable bloodthirst that boiled inside him. He wanted to find Jetsuuki again. To kill him.

Kitake yawned as he stretched his arms up over his head.

"Okay, so now we're outside the Sound Village. We just gotta break in, track down this Jetsuuki guy and find the girl."

"Yeah." Sasuke said. He held the scroll in his hands. "But, I think I have to read the next part of the mission. There are specific instructions about being in the Sound Village."

Kitake frowned. "What's the big deal about the Sound Village anyway?? Everyone's always talking about it in hushed tones and whispering about it as though there's something evil about it."

Sasuke said nothing.

He had come to this village. Not only was the mission to be completed here, he knew that Jetsuuki was in here or beyond. He had recalled that when he had last read the scroll, it had directed that he had to read the second part of the mission when he was in or near the Sound Village.

Now was the time to do just that.

Sasuke grumbled as he held the mission instructions open. The mission instructions were on a thin but long piece of paper wrapped around the other scroll. He didn't want to bother with this mission anymore. He just wanted to find Hinata. Sasuke really, really, wanted her back. It had been slow and painful, but he had… warmed up to her.

That's all he wanted. To get Hinata back. To find Jetsuuki and kill him.

Sasuke quickly read through the instructions. If he maneuvered this correctly, he could use this scroll and this mission to gain access into the Sound Village and information about Jetsuuki.

_The second part: _

_When you enter the Sound Village, you must present the scroll to the Otokage._

_THERE ARE IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS REGARDING THIS._

_The scroll is an agreement. That is all that will be revealed to you. _

_Anyone who sees the scroll and disagrees to it must die. It is your job to make sure this rule is followed. The person who disagrees to it will be killed at your own hand. _

_However, if the person agrees to the scroll and signs it, YOU MUST NOT KILL THEM. _

"Hm… so that's the mission?" Kitake said, "Huh, that's pretty tight."

Sasuke didn't answer. For someone who had harbored such intense anger and hunger for revenge before, Kitake certainly seemed different. Sasuke guessed that in actual fact, Kitake was a nice guy that missed his best friend dearly.

Sasuke said, "Let's go."

Kitake nodded firmly.

Although Sasuke's outward expression was hard and unafraid, inside he was trembling. But it wasn't trembling from fear. Well, maybe just a tiny bit. He was actually trembling from the thrill of spilling blood.

Sasuke and Kitake went through the gates of the Sound Village. For a place that was meant to be the Village of Sound, it sure was quiet.

The two ninjas quietly crept through the village.

And for every step that Sasuke took, he felt his fear lessen and his excitement of meeting Jetsuuki again grow.

"So what are you going to do now?" Kitake asked.

Sasuke told him, "Let's find the Otokage and get this scroll delivered. Also…" His face took on a serious expression and his voice softened a little, "…I have to ask him if he knows anything about Jetsuuki."

The special building that was especially for the Otokage's headquarters was easily found. It stood out among the other buildings. It had a traditional wooden roof but it was a narrow and taller building than the others. A large wooden gate was in front of the building and the Japanese character for 'sound' was painted on it in black ink.

The gate swung open and shut again as the Uchiha and his companion entered the building.

As soon as Sasuke stepped into the Otokage's room, into the Otokage's presence, his nerves suddenly went askew. His eyes widened. His blood froze and he felt unbearably cold. Worse of all, there was this deathly evil tremor that shook him to the bone and beyond.

And… it felt like Jetsuuki.

The deeper he went into the Otokage's lair, the more the malicious intent grew.

Kitake kept glancing at Sasuke cautiously, as though he had a feeling the pressure would set Sasuke's blood boiling.

But the truth was… ever since Hinata had gone; Sasuke's blood had been boiling like crazy.

The Otokage was wearing his special hat, but he seemed to have pulled it low, over his eyes, so that no-one could see what he looked like. For some reason, as soon as Sasuke saw him, he thought that the man seemed familiar.

Kitake and Sasuke slowly went up to the Otokage.

"I have an agreement from Konohagakure for you." Sasuke said politely.

The Otokage seemed to stare at the scroll. Then he seemed to stare at Sasuke for the longest time. Sasuke didn't notice because he was lost in thought, but Kitake's sharp green eyes caught every movement.

The Otokage gave a sly grin, his lips curving up in the most evil smile Kitake had ever seen.

"Place it here." He commanded, pointing at the small table in front of him.

Sasuke obeyed.

The Otokage rolled open the scroll and read the whole deal in a matter of seconds. As swift as the fastest ninja, he whipped out a paintbrush and ink from nowhere and signed the agreement with a flourish. And then with the same agile speed, he threw the scroll into the air, rolling it back up as it landed in his hand.

"Take it." He ordered, throwing it at Sasuke.

"Er… Yeah… thankyou." Sasuke said, bewildered.

And then it happened again, as the Otokage spoke. "It was _so _nice meeting you."

The evil grin that appeared on the Otokage's mouth and the way his lips curved upwards with evil intent. Sasuke's eyes actually caught it this time. His eyes widened in shock.

Kitake had noticed it the first time and was already on guard. He widened his stance, bending his knees just slightly, ready to take action.

"N-no… way…" Sasuke's black eyes were so wide and full of surprise. The Uchiha took two steps back, as if in fear, and then immediately regretted it.

The Otokage tilted his head up slowly, his mouth smiling so hard and maliciously. When the Otokage lifted his head, Sasuke could finally see the shining yellow eyes. With a soft thud, the Otokage hat fell to the ground.

"You!!" Sasuke cried. His voice got angrier and harsher as his hatred rose. Sasuke's words were abrupt and melded together as a result of his great anger and shock horror.

"You!! How could…?? - How dare you…- WHY??!!"

Jetsuuki met Sasuke's gaze calmly and with the same confident cunningness as before.

His always present smile didn't fade, as he spoke.

"It's _sooo _nice to see you again… Uchiha."

**Ooh!! Wow!! Ooh!! Eh heh… well, I'm not too sure how I feel about this chapter. It was okay I guess. Because you see, I was in a bit of a tangled situation, linking the event from last chapter to the events coming up now. I hope you didn't mind too much- I tried very hard!! **

**Thankyou for reading!! Don't forget to review!! **


	15. Love really sucks

**Yay!! It's the summer holidays!! Woohoo!! Year 8 is over!! Wow!! So… as always, it means super-awesome chapters because I have much more time to write!! Hurraaaayyy!! Hmm, cliffhanger much for last chappie?? Definitely!! I hope you'll like chapter 15. Man… now that I really think about it- this fic- it's gone on for so long!! I can't believe it!! How far I've come!! It makes me really sad sometimes…**

**So, I must work harder than ever and bring you another awesome chapter!! I hope you like it!! Read and review!! **

"_Since when did you care for anyone other than yourself?" _

**Chapter Fifteen: Love really sucks… **

"Jetsuuki!!!" Sasuke yelled, grabbing Jetsuuki's collar and pulling the Otokage upwards towards his face. Sasuke's eyes were burning with hate and anger.

"What did you do to Hinata??!?" He shouted angrily.

Jetsuuki didn't stop smiling, even though he was being pulled up by the collar.

"Wow… you know me so well, Uchiha. However did you realize I was the one who took Miss Hyuuga away?"

Sasuke was breathing hard from his outburst and he was so fired up and so angry, he could hardly control himself.

"Tell me!!" He shouted, "Where is she?? What did you do with her??"

"Uchiha, I'm surprised you care so much about her. Since when did you care for anyone other than yourself?"

Sasuke was majorly pissed off. He let go of Jetsuuki and he fell back into his seat.

"If you want to know so much, I'll tell you." Jetsuuki's eyes were scheming and devious, and his evil grin stretched wider than ever.

"I told you that I hate Hyuugas. I also hate Uchihas. I basically hate every single clan that is so-called the most powerful, or the best. I thought the Uchihas had all been wiped out. And then I realized that you were heading towards my village, along with Miss Hyuuga. As soon as I saw that girl, I knew she'd be a pathetic weakling. After I beat her up to a pulp, I needed to get to you. So I took her with me, knowing that you'd follow the bait. And guess what, you did!"

Sasuke felt himself trembling. He couldn't stop his hands shaking. He was yearning… he was itching… he was hungry for spilling blood. He knew it was wrong of him to love killing this much. He had learnt that from Hinata. She was that one person who could stop him from turning into a bloodthirsty beast. But now that she wasn't here, now that she had been taken away, now that he realized she had been used as _bait… _He could no longer control himself. He felt sanity slowly slipping away from his grip.

Jetsuuki watched Sasuke knowingly. "I knew you'd take the bait. I'm just surprised how fast you got here. I didn't realize the great Uchiha would have fallen weak to Miss Hyuuga." He looked smug. Then suddenly he taunted Sasuke even more.

Jetsuuki raised his eyebrows and made a surprised expression. "Oh my! Could I have missed this before?? How could I not have realized??"

"WHAT?" Sasuke growled.

"Could it be…" Jetsuuki said, "…that you love Miss Hyuuga?"

Sasuke was silent. He stood still, eyes covered by his black hair.

"Heh." was all that came out of his mouth.

Kitake was frowning at Sasuke. "Uchiha… what should we do?"

Sasuke finally spoke. Without lifting or turning his head, he said:

"Minabi. You go ahead and rescue Hinata. I'll stay here and kill this bastard."

"What?" Kitake cried. "What the heck?? You've come here to save this girl, and now you're not even going to see her?"

Sasuke finally looked at Kitake. His eyes were wide and dark, full of murderous intent. Kitake immediately froze up. He had never seen Sasuke so full of evil before.

"I've gotta kill this guy. And you're not gonna stop me. I don't care what the ninja mission says. I don't care anymore." Sasuke's hands were trembling as he lifted them upwards and studied them. "I'm sure you can already see the bloodlust in my eyes. And I'm sure you can tell that my body is shaking. It's shaking because it wants to kill so much."

Kitake's eyes were wide full of disbelief. "Uchiha!!"

Sasuke could feel insanity take over him. He could feel the uncontrollable hunger for bloodshed overwhelm him. Before long, he knew that he would be lost. So before he gave in to the murderer he was, he had to speak the truth. He had to let it out before he could no longer control his body.

Kitake was watching Sasuke intently. His green eyes did not budge from Sasuke's dark ones. It was as though he was looking, searching and digging deep into Sasuke's heart, trying to reach inside him.

Sasuke let out a long and painful breath. His body trembled slightly. His eyes softened and his voice grew quieter.

"Besides, even if I were to find her now, what would I say?" Sasuke lowered his gaze towards the ground, and tightened his fists.

"What would I tell her? How could I possibly put my feelings into words, now that I've discovered how I feel? For as long as I've known her, I've been hating her, and despising her to the core. I've always been insulting her, and pushing her down like everyone else has."

Kitake seemed to feel all of Sasuke's emotions and turmoil. He tried to put himself in Sasuke's shoes, but they were too big. As though all of Sasuke's dark past and now his distress were enveloping him and overwhelming him.

"I've treated her like crap for so long. And she has never once hated me. She has never spoken harshly to me. I've hurt her a lot, and yet she will still continue to accept me. She will still listen to everything I want to say. She will always keep smiling at me, gently, even though I don't smile back at her. It's so unfair for her to be this way when I'm not repaying her for everything she's done."

Sasuke laughed. Yet there was no happiness behind it. It was the kind of laugh that covered up deep agony and pain; that tried to hide it and tried to make you think they were fine and all right.

"I really… can't face her anymore. Out of all the girls in Konoha… they were forever after me, but she was the one person that preferred someone else to me. And she's the one I find myself falling for. I can't help it… but if this is the way it is, I don't want to trouble her anymore. All I do is hurt her and make her feel awful…"

"And you're right, Jetsuuki. Since when have I ever cared for someone other than myself? If this is what love is, I'd prefer to hate her and keep pushing her down below the surface. Because I really can't speak to her. I have nothing to say… I can't even look at her anymore."

Sasuke turned away from Kitake. His voice was hoarse and quiet, as though it pained him to say it.

"…Love really sucks."

**That's all!! I hope you liked it!! Eh heh!! I quite liked this!! It might have been the first and even the last time for us to see this much into Sasuke's feelings. Hmm… yeah, Sasuke has seemed to change a lot since the beginning of the fic. But he still seems so Sasuke to me!! Eh heh!! I love ya, Sasuke!! Thanks for reading!! Please review, everyone!! Seeya!! emichii! **


	16. Fighting over Emotions

**Ohayo!! How are you all?? I wanna say thanks for the awesome reviews!! **

**And Merry Christmas for Tuesday!! I hope you all had a terrific Christmas!! Also, I wish everyone the best for the New Year!! Wow!! It's gonna be 2008 soon!! Heh!! **

**Anyway, The Love, Pain and Tears of Uchiha Sasuke is up to chapter 16!! WOW!! **

**I would never have gotten this far without all of you!! Arigato Gozaimasu!! **

**Please read and review!! **

**The Love, Pain and Tears of Uchiha Sasuke**

**Chapter Sixteen: Fighting over Emotions **

Hinata was sitting on a cold stone floor. She struggled to keep awake. How long had she been imprisoned here now? It was a small room made of grey stone and it was chilly and lonely. There was no light in the room except for what came from a tiny barred window on the wall.

She shivered. She inspected her hands. There were still bruises and multiple cuts on them. But any wounds she had from before had more or less healed. Still, she was locked up here, and the only company she had was loneliness and miserable thoughts.

It was strange, Hinata decided, she was stuck here and the only thing she could do was think.

Just thinking. Her thoughts floated around her. They filled up the room. Every where she turned, they were there, reminding her of her miserable past, and the new feelings she was afraid of discovering.

She thought of home. Konoha.

She thought of her friends; Kiba and Shino.

She thought of the person she admired most. Naruto.

_Naruto… _She thought. _If it were you stuck in here, what would you do?? _

Hinata lowered her head onto her knees and rested it there. Her eyelids were heavy and drooping.

She imagined herself back home with everyone she loved. Yet for some reason, even though she was back, something was missing. The Hinata in her mind looked around everywhere but couldn't find what was missing.

Why was she feeling so sad??

Who wasn't here?? What was missing?

The Hinata suddenly burst into tears. Hinata herself was unable to tell what was wrong. Why was she crying? What was this… painful and miserable feeling inside her??

Hinata was startled. Real tears were flowing from her eyes.

She sat up straight, and stared in shock at her hands, which caught the falling tears.

Her heart was burdened, as she suddenly realized what was happening.

No matter how hard she tried, the tears wouldn't stop. Hinata couldn't stop the hurt from inside. She sobbed uncontrollably.

Tears fell onto the stone floor, leaving dark spots.

_How long have I been trying not to believe this?? _Hinata covered her face with her hands.

_I… I… I love Uchiha-kun… _

Hinata was miserable. She was faced with her own dilemma. How could she have let this happen?

_How long have I been in love with him?? Why…?? Why did this have to happen?? _

Hinata was distressed and sad. Her tears kept flowing.

_I can't stop… crying… And this hurts so much… this really… really sucks. _

Hinata sighed. _There are so many girls that like Uchiha-kun… Is that why I'm crying?? Because I know… that he couldn't ever like me… and that he hates me… _

…_Love… _Hinata's tear-streaked face wearily rested on her knees. _…really is a waste of time. _

Kitake ran around the Otokage's headquarters. He was shocked and also a little scared at Sasuke. Sasuke had definitely lost sanity.

Kitake bit his lip. He had let Sasuke fight Jetsuuki and now he had to find Hinata.

Kitake was now running around the second floor of the building. He could stand out at the railings and if he looked down, he could see Jetsuuki and Sasuke. Kitake looked all over the place.

He was really pissed off. _WHY IS THIS WHOLE DAMN BUILDING SO BIG?? _

Kitake could see that all over the second floor, there were corridors heading off in different directions. And along every corridor and every wall, there were doors lined up.

The doors were made of wood and the hinges were heavy iron.

Kitake frowned. He went up to the closest door. Maybe, if he was lucky, Hinata would be inside.

Kitake tried the door handle. It wouldn't open. He twisted the handle visciously, but the door refused to budge. Kitake got nasty.

"Fine then!" He exclaimed, raising a fist, "I'll just bust through it!!"

"HYAH!!" Kitake broke down the door. The wooden door crumbled to the ground, shattered and splintered.

Kitake peeked inside. No-one.

"Next!" He said. He ran on to the next door, and the next one after that.

Kitake ran around from door to door, destroying them all.

"HYAH! Hyahh!! KYAA!! HIYAHH!! Hyaah!"

Kitake frowned. Man, this was getting repetitive. He had two doors left. He looked up and down the corridors. There were broken wooden doors crushed and strewn all over the floor. He almost felt bad for vandalizing this place.

He shrugged. _Oh well. _

Kitake stared at the last door. Ha! Obviously!! It always is the last one isn't it?

Kitake ran up to the door and sent a flying kick at it. The door fell down. Kitake rushed inside the room. He gaped. It was empty!!

Kitake grumbled and walked to the second to last door. Okay, now he really felt like an idiot. He channeled all his annoyance and anger into this one last door. He punched it hard.

The door didn't fall down. Kitake was stunned. "Ow!" He said, shaking his hand.

Kitake ran his hand down the door. It looked like wood but it was actually a much stronger door than all the others. Hinata was obviously inside.

Kitake took a step back from the door. He would have to get past with genjutsu.

He did a series of handsigns. Then he held out his hand to the door said, "FREEZING ICE JUTSU!!"

Ice started forming all over the supposedly wooden door. It encased the door completely.

Kitake did a couple more handsigns. He said softly. "Shatter."

The ice broke and shattered. And the door broke into pieces along with the ice. It fell to bits all over the floor.

Kitake carefully picked his way through the mess and into the room.

He saw Hinata sitting and staring at him.

"Wh-who are you?" She asked, eyes wide.

Kitake said, "I'm Kitake. I came with Sasuke. He wanted to… rescue you."

Hinata stared. "What??"

Kitake smiled. "Yeah, that's right. He couldn't… just let you stay here. He had to come to save you."

Hinata was speechless. Then finally, she whispered. "Thankyou… Uchiha-kun…"

She turned to face Kitake. "Thankyou to you as well!! You didn't have any reason to come… after me…"

Kitake knelt down beside Hinata. He regarded her with his deep green eyes. "Yeah, I did."

Hinata gazed at him. "…You seem… so familiar…"

Kitake bowed his head solemnly. "You're the one… who buried my best friend. Arigato gozaimasu, Hinata-san… I owe you a really large debt… thankyou so much for giving Renn a proper grave…"

Hinata remembered. "Ah… no, it was all I could do… I was so sad that Uchiha-kun…" Hinata's voice faltered, when she thought of Sasuke and how evil he could be. "…Uchiha-kun killed him… I-I am so… sorry…"

"It's okay," Kitake smiled brightly. "I'm just happy he can rest in peace…"

"…" Kitake looked at Hinata. She looked tired and like she had been crying. He smiled again. "Come on. Let's go."

**Well… that was eventful, wasn't it? I hope you liked!! Please review!! **


	17. The Higher Clans

**Nihao!! I'm writing this on New Year's Eve, so by the time this goes online, it will be 2008!! Wow!! I wish you all the best for the New Year! **

**Thankyou for all your reviews, everybody! I never would've gotten this far without all of you!! Thankyou!! **

**Here's chapter 17!! Read and Review! And Happy New Year!! **

**Chapter Seventeen: The Higher Clans **

Sasuke glared at the Otokage.

Jetsuuki watched Sasuke with his cunning, knowing grin. He said, "Uchiha, why are you just standing there? Didn't you swear you were going to kill me?"

Sasuke's eyes bore huge animosity. "Yeah… I did." Sasuke couldn't help it. He remembered back to when he had killed Renn. He had been in such a rage. He had been unable to control himself, and he had been thirsty for revenge. Now, once again, he was more than twice as angry as he was then.

Jetsuuki smiled. "Well, Uchiha… if you're not going to attack… then I will!"

The always-smiling ninja darted forward. Sasuke's eyes widened.

The ninja seemed to flash-step straight into Sasuke. You would have expected Jetsuuki to crash into Sasuke, but for some reason he didn't. He was so fast it looked as thought he ran right through Sasuke.

Sasuke was astounded. _Where the heck-??_

"Over here, Uchiha."

Sasuke immediately turned around in the direction of the voice. Before he had any time to react, Jetsuuki sent a heavy blow at his face with his foot. Sasuke jumped back quickly, but the damage was already done.

Sasuke stood there, breathing hard, bent over a little as he regained his breath. Jetsuuki appeared behind him with a kunai drawn out and poised ready for another strike. Sasuke saw him from the corner of his eyes. He didn't panic or make any sudden movements.

"Heh… why are you always attacking from behind?" Sasuke asked, smirking a little. "Is that the only way you can hit someone?" Sasuke ducked suddenly, very carefully yet fast, and escaped the kunai knife.

He dropped to the ground and spun his leg out and kicked it towards Jetsuuki's feet. Jetsuuki sensed it immediately and jumped up. In that instance, Sasuke flew up and sent his other leg flying towards Jetsuuki's head.

Jetsuuki's eyes widened. He bent backwards to avoid Sasuke's kick, and while he did that, back flipped, catching Sasuke's leg between his feet. Jetsuuki flung Sasuke over his head and Sasuke flew towards the stone wall.

Jetsuuki stood and watched. He hardly looked tired, and he didn't have a single scratch on him.

Sasuke flew towards the stone wall. His back was going to break if it hit at that speed. Sasuke estimated he was close to the wall; he bent back and used his hands to hold himself up on the ground. He pushed off the wall with his feet and raced towards Jetsuuki, gathering up more speed than ever.

"You beat me before, Jetsuuki, but this time I swear I'll kill you!!" Sasuke yelled.

Dashing towards Jetsuuki, Sasuke was barely seen because of his speed. The Uchiha did swift hand signs. Jetsuuki didn't move a muscle. He just stood there, watching, with his cunning and smug smile on his face.

"Gokakyu no Jutsu!!" Sasuke shouted. A huge cloud of fire exploded at Jetsuuki. Sasuke watched furiously as the flames enveloped Jetsuuki. Jetsuuki stood there. Before the fire covered him from view, Sasuke saw him grin maliciously.

When the fire disappeared, Jetsuuki was gone.

Sasuke was irritated. He turned around angrily. "Dammit! Where are you now, Jetsuuki??!?"

"I thought you said I always attacked from behind…?"

Jetsuuki darted towards him from straight in front. Sasuke's mouth dropped open. How the heck could he be so damn fast?

It was incredibly fast, what happened next. Next thing Sasuke knew, was that he had been cut and blood was bursting out of his chest. Sasuke's black eyes were black and full of shock.

He hadn't even felt the knife penetrate him, or leave his body. But the pain was still there.

Sasuke gasped out. He doubled over in pain. _Damn this!! _He pressed a hand to his gaping wound, feeling the fresh blood spill out over his hand and his body.

Sasuke's breathing was haggard and heavy. Yet, he wasn't backing off yet. He raised his head and glared deep into Jetsuuki's eyes.

He had a tiny smirk on his face, yet there was pain written all over his eyes. Sasuke spat out the words, "I'm not done yet, Jetsuuki!!"

Sasuke painfully pulled himself up so that he was standing straight. Still out of breath, he said loudly, "Why do you hate us so much?? Jetsuuki!!"

Jetsuuki's eyes widened a tiny bit. He watched as the last Uchiha picked up his body and ran towards him. Sasuke pulled out kunai from his pouch and threw it up in the air, catching it between his teeth. Then he took a bunch or shuriken and whipped them out at Jetsuuki at tremendous speed.

Jetsuuki watched, and for once his evil grin faded. His eyes got serious as he met the gaze of the angry Uchiha.

"TELL ME!!" screamed Sasuke. "Why are you trying to kill us?? What have you got against the Uchiha clan and the Hyuuga clan??"

The cloud of shuriken flew towards Jetsuuki, spinning. Jetsuuki said nothing. All of the shuriken missed.

Sasuke was horrified. _No way!! They were directly on target?? How could I have missed?? _

The moment of contact drew near. Sasuke, speeding towards Jetsuuki, with a gleaming sharp kunai in his mouth and Jetsuuki standing there, still and silent.

"JETSUUKI!! TELL ME!!!" Sasuke yelled.

_XxxFLASHBACKxxX 9 years ago, Sand Village _

"Have you got that, Jetsuuki? All of our clans are lower class and no match against those higher and well-respected clans. That's why you must always respect them. Never disagree with what they say and always do as they say. Because no matter how hard you try, you'll never rise above them."

"What??" The eleven-year-old boy frowned with hatred. "That's not fair!! It's not my fault I was born in a lowly clan!!"

Jetsuuki's mother smiled sadly. "Yes, but you must still live with it."

Jetsuuki glared. The woman bent over and said softly, "Do you really think you could beat a Hyuuga or an Uchiha? They are really the best, you know. They are the elite; they are specially trained to become the greatest ninja and the strongest. They have special skills born into them that they inherit from their ancestors. Yes… those clans are really… the elite."

"Yeah, right! Why should I believe that??" answered Jetsuuki. "I've never even seen one of these _Uchihas_, why should I believe they're so much better than me??"

"Jetsuuki… is that really what you think?" Jetsuuki's mum smiled. "Maybe one day you'll see. One day you'll see how greatly admired and how highly thought of these clans are."

Jetsuuki snorted. "Ha, yeah right."

_XxxEND FLASHBACKxxX _

"After that, I entered the Ninja Academy in the Sand Village." Jetsuuki said. He was still standing still. Sasuke was positioned in front of him, with the kunai knife he had before shoved into Jetsuuki's stomach.

"It was then when I first met a Hyuuga." Jetsuuki's eyes narrowed as he thought back. "As soon as I saw him, I knew that I hated him. He was… strong."

Sasuke frowned. _How?? _

The kunai knife had most definitely gone into Jetsuuki, but Jetsuuki appeared not to have felt anything. No blood was coming.

_How could he not be hurt??_

Jetsuuki stopped his story. He looked over at Sasuke. Sasuke's eyes were wide and full of shock and fear. Jetsuuki gazed at Sasuke. He reached down and slowly pulled the knife out.

Sasuke's mouth was open in shock. Jetsuuki calmly took the knife and pushed the handle into Sasuke's body. Sasuke gasped out in pain.

"They told us the Hyuuga was from Konoha, one of our allied villages. He came into the class because the sensei wanted to show us what a Kekei Genkai was like. Before that we had heard of the famous Hyuuga clan, but never seen one from it."

Sasuke trembled from the pain. Then he shot out his hands and grabbed the kunai knife. He pulled it from Jetsuuki's hands and fell back a couple of steps.

"I challenged that Hyuuga, because I was big-headed and immature. I wanted to prove that lower clans could still beat the higher clans. And I failed miserably."

Jetsuuki paused. "That Hyuuga… was even younger than me. Yet he was already a chunin, going on ninja missions… It made me even angrier that he could beat me to a pulp…"

Jetsuuki stepped towards Sasuke who was suffering from multiple injuries. "That was what made me hate Hyuugas. They all… everyone disrespects the hard work we lower clans put in!!"

Sasuke gritted his teeth. _Damn this!! I can… hardly…move…_

"Just look at this." Jetsuuki sneered. "You and Miss Hyuuga are the highly thought of ninja everyone respected. And just see how both of you can barely put up a fight. You haven't even scratched me once. And Miss Hyuuga is just pathetic beyond comparison. She was meant to be from the main branch!!"

Jetsuuki's evil grin returned. "It makes me crack up to think how you two could possible be from the two most respected ninja clans."

Sasuke grunted and tried to move. Jetsuuki stood right beside the frozen Uchiha and smiled devilishly.

"Of course, then there's the reason why I hate your clan, Uchiha."

Sasuke's eyes widened. Jetsuuki's dark flashing eyes pierced through Sasuke.

"An Uchiha killed my mother."

**Ta dah!! YAYYY!! That was chapter 17!! By the way, Jetsuuki grew up in the Sand Village and then later on ran off and joined the Sound Village after his mother died. Also, when he was 11, Jetsuuki got beat up by Kid Hyuuga. He kept punching and hitting the Hyuuga, but the kid dodged them all and kept poking Jetsuuki. Because the kid poked all of Jetsuuki's chakra points and Jetsuuki lost. **

**Anyway, that's all for this week!! Hope you liked!!**

**Man, I'm so proud of my fighting scenes now!! Woohoo!! Tell me what you think of them!! Lots of backflipping, huh? **

**Hope 2008 is an awesome year for you all!! Read and review!! **


	18. Giving up to the Darkness

**Hiya all!! It seems many of you have guessed it must have been Itachi who killed Jetsuuki's mum. I guess it could have been. But which Uchiha murdered her is not vital to the storyline, so I guess you can believe what you want. **

**It's Chapter 18!! Hooray!! Hope you enjoy!! Don't forget to review!! **

**Naruto does not belong to me!! **

**Chapter Eighteen: Giving in to the Darkness **

Suddenly, all of the confidence and calm left Jetsuuki. Immediately, it was drained away from him and his face was full of anger. He glared with fury and he couldn't stop all of the pent-up frustration and hate from exploding.

"It was one of your bloody clan that killed my mother!!" Jetsuuki shouted. "He… slaughtered her in front of me!! And he laughed!! His eyes held such evil in them, and he was laughing- completely amused by so gruesomely murdering a mother in front of her son!!"

Jetsuuki yelled out in his anguish and pain: "Don't you think I would seek revenge?? Don't you think I would wish to pay it back?? Think about it now!! I took your precious Miss Hyuuga from you, and you have already sworn to kill me!! Uchiha, my mother was slaughtered!! She was killed by one of your clan!! Of course I would want to take retribution!! It is not my fault I can't find the Uchiha who murdered my mum! I can only cling to the memories I have on that clear night in my childhood!!"

Sasuke finally found the ability to move. He had been frozen still to the spot. And while he was unable to move, he felt the truth of Jetsuuki's words wash over him. Yet he didn't want to hear it! He didn't want to believe it!

"You're the only Uchiha I have been able to meet!!" Jetsuuki cried. "And the emotion you carry in your eyes right now… is exactly the same as the look in the eyes of my mother's murderer!!"

Sasuke was in chaos. His spirit was being torn in half. There was his evil and bloodthirsty side and his small shred of hope and light that he was so desperately clinging on to. Yet, although his light side was still present, he felt any goodness left diminishing quickly.

The truth of everything Jetsuuki had just said was ripping him up even more. He knew. He just knew he was lost now.

Those two sides of his spirit were ripping apart, never to be put together again.

Sasuke could see any goodness he ever had in his spirit falling away from his reach and flying away.

"_And the emotion you carry in your eyes right now… is exactly the same as the look in the eyes of my mother's murderer!!" _

_Because you know it's all true. _

Sasuke couldn't fight it. He was evil. Evil grew deep in the core of him. All along… all along, it had been there. Even though he tried to cover it and hide it, it was like that Uchiha who killed Jetsuuki's mother.

"_U-U-Uchiha… san!! Stop!! Stop!! Don't… don't kill him!!" _

"_But… but… it's still someone's life!! A life… is p-precious… there's so much… someone could do with it… I don't understand… how __anyone can kill like that… Uchiha-san… how can you… how can you kill someone… without feeling anything… at… all?!??" _

"_Oh, but… wasn't that what you thought too?"_

"_You don't know what I __went through after Renn died! You have absolutely no idea how much I suffered!! I lost my best friend!! I had to watch him be killed right in front of me! But then, you wouldn't understand?"_

"_You wouldn't have a clue what it's like to have a friend, right, Uchiha??" _

"_What's wrong with you?? I though__t you loved to fight and kill!! Why aren't you fighting me??" _

"_You wouldn't even be the smallest bit merciful!! You had to kill him!! You had to fight him and beat him up. You made him vomit blood! And even when he was lying helpless on the ground, you had to keep punching him, even though you knew he had already lost!! He was already in so much pain, yet you did even more damage to his lungs that he had trouble breathing and died so cruelly!!! You did all that!! And you never even thought about how he was another human- another precious life!!" _

"_I'm sure you can already see the bloodlust in my eyes. And I'm sure you can tell that my body is shaking. It's shaking because it wants to kill so much."_

"_I've treated her like crap for so long. And she has never once hated me. She has never spoken harshly to me. I've hurt her a lot, and yet she will still continue to accept me. She will still listen to everything I want to say. She will always keep smiling at me, gently, even though I don't smile back at her. It's so unfair for her to be this way when I'm not repaying her for everything she's done."_

Sasuke gritted his teeth. He tightened his fists. And he untightened them again, letting them fall loosely at his side. He let his black hair fall over his eyes and he closed his eyes in acceptance.

"You're right, Jetsuuki," he said slowly and calmly. "I am evil."

Jetsuuki was shocked, as he stared at the Uchiha. Sasuke looked up at Jetsuuki and glared straight into his eyes, with the marks of the Sharingan in his eyes.

Jetsuuki couldn't believe Sasuke's sudden confidence. He couldn't believe that he so easily accepted his darkness and he was still looking for bloodshed.

Jetsuuki's eyes were wide and incredulous. "Uchiha!! You really are evil!!"

Sasuke slowly grinned. "Of course. You already knew that. You learnt it a long time ago. So why are you looking so surprised?"

Sasuke didn't remove his eyes from Jetsuuki, or stop the malicious grin on his face. He advanced forward towards Jetsuuki, any pain he had felt before long gone and replaced with an irresistible need to kill.

Outwardly, Sasuke had already lost the battle against himself. Yeah, he had already lost any goodness he once had. He was now fully evil. Darkness, anger, revenge, bloodlust, evil… everything… Sasuke's body was no longer his.

Yet inside, he was vaguely aware that he had lost control. He knew that the evil inside him had taken over. And though he knew this, he didn't try to fight it anymore. Why would he even try? What was the point? There was no point!! There was no meaning!! No reason!!

THERE WAS ABSOLUTELY NO REASON TO FIGHT THE DARKNESS!!!

Why should he bother?? It would all end up the same!! The happiness he had felt for a small time ended and now it was forever beyond his reach!! The girl who had changed his life, even though she was still alive, would never be his!! Love… a pure love like hers was something he would never deserve!!

And of course… all along, perhaps… all along he had known this would happen.

Yes, he had known.

It was fate. He had known it. He knew the darkness inside was too much. He knew he couldn't defeat it. And he knew he was evil, every part of him. He longed and thirsted for blood almost as much as he wanted Hinata's love.

_Yeah…_ Sasuke's last true and pure thoughts slowly vanished. _All along… it was a battle I would lose. _

And so, with that final thought, Sasuke disappeared. Deep into the murderous and dark depths of his true evil nature.

A voice that was most definitely Sasuke's, yet with more hate and wickedness dripping from it spoke. "Hmph. It's about time."

"What?" Jetsuuki stared in wonder at Sasuke.

Sasuke's eyes lolled towards the back of his head. He slowly got into a fighting position and faced Jetsuuki. "I've been wanting to kill for a long time now."

Kitake hurried down the hallway. His green eyes darted around him, as he tried to remember the way around this building and choose the right direction to go.

He was carrying Hinata in his arms; one arm around her back and the other one under her knees.

"Um…" Hinata stammered, "Where's Uchiha-kun??"

Kitake had a little frown on his face. "Uchiha? He's fighting Jetsuuki on the lower level of the building. I'm not afraid though. I'm confident he'll win."

Kitake carried Hinata down the hallway and turned a corner and started running down a flight of stairs.

"…Kitake-san…" Hinata said softly, "You sound like you know Uchiha-kun well… I'm happy that you guys are friends."

"Friends?" Kitake chuckled. "Nah."

Suddenly, they heard the sound of Sasuke's fireball jutsu. Kitake tightened his grip on Hinata and ran faster. "He's nearby." He told her.

They turned another corner and got to the battle field.

Sasuke and Jetsuuki had been fighting. Before, Sasuke had looked like a real bloody mess; but now that Sasuke had nothing holding him back, and the power of evil was controlling him, he had also done Jetsuuki a lot of damage.

Jetsuuki was haggard and struggling to stand on his feet. His breathing was irregular and it was painful for him to breathe. His right shoulder and arm were almost invisible under torn clothing, huge gaping wounds and blood.

Sasuke was panting for breath. He looked exhausted though not finished yet. In fact, his whole body needed to kill. His eyes were wide and full of animosity.

"Uchiha-kun!!" Hinata shouted.

Sasuke didn't turn around. He appeared to not have heard her.

Kitake knew at once that something was wrong. "…Uchiha…" he started saying.

"Uchiha-kun!!" Hinata cried out again. There was no response. "Uchiha-kun…??? Uchiha!!"

When at last Sasuke turned around, the person Hinata saw was not the Sasuke she had grown to love. It wasn't Sasuke. But… Hinata bit her lip hard as she remembered.

_Of course… it is Uchiha-kun… _Hinata's gaze lowered. _Uchiha-kun… is still the same. I was stupid to think that just because he would open up to me… and that I could stop him from killing someone once… would change his true self. _

"It's no use." Kitake said. His green eyes were serious. "Uchiha is just like what he was like when I first met him. You… won't be able to stop him from killing anyone anymore. He…"

Hinata lowered her head and rested it against Kitake's chest. He could tell she was upset.

"I know…" she whispered softly, "He's already given in to the darkness."

**NO!! Don't join the dark side, Sasuke!! Remember the force!! The force!! You mustn't give up the title of a Jedi Knight!! Whatever am I talking about?? **

**Ha! No, this is not Star Wars!!**

**Anyway, this fic is ending. And I reckon the most chapters to come would be 3. ****The Love, Pain and Tears of Uchiha Sasuke ****will be over in either 2 or 3 chapters. Only time will tell.**

**Yeah, thankyou for everyone's support!! Thanks to you guys I've managed to write about the most touching and saddest fic ever. sigh… thankyou. **

**Please read and review!! from emichii!! **


	19. Overcome the Evil

**This is chapter 19 everyone!! I reckon that this will be one of the last chapters!! So… thanks for all your support, everyone!! Please enjoy and please review!! You reviews all encourage me and make me happy!! Hurray!! **

**Chapter Nineteen: Overcome the Evil**

He couldn't hear her.

Hinata wanted so badly to be able to get to him, just like that cold rainy night that seemed so long ago. It had been the first time, and now probably the last time that he had ever opened up to her, and let her know about all the pain and turmoil he carried deep inside.

Why? Why wasn't there a way to reach him? Hinata tearfully watched Sasuke as he mercilessly advanced towards Jetsuuki again, baring his fists and an array of knives and weapons.

She just wanted to reach him. She had to!! Before… before there was absolutely no hope left!! Before he really was gone!! Like the Itachi she had heard about! She had to grab him, and reach him, and get the real Sasuke inside before he disappeared for ever!!

But… he couldn't hear her. He hadn't even seen her. He had turned around, but had not seen Hinata.

_Uchiha-kun… _Hinata watched as tears filled her eyes.

Sasuke yelled, "Who did you call pathetic, Jetsuuki?? I thought you said I was WORTHLESS?? You told me I wasn't WORTH FIGHTING!! You still think that right now?? Damn, I bet you do!! I'm not worth fighting because you can't measure up to me, Jetsuuki!! You wish you never even came across me!! Well, then you're bloody right, 'cause I'm going to kill you!!!"

Jetsuuki's body hit the ground heavily with a thud. He really did look pathetic. It was hard to believe this was the same guy who had so easily and cruelly beaten up Hinata and Sasuke before.

But it was the same guy. It was still Jetsuuki. Pathetic, bruised, bleeding, half-dead mess lying on the ground.

"HA!! YOU THINK YOU COULD'VE CALLED ME PATHETIC??? Who do you think is PATHETIC, Jetsuuki?? Look at yourself right now!! LOOK!! Who's the bleeding utterly defeated unrecognizable bloody crapped-up guy lying on the ground here???" Sasuke screamed out. He sounded absolutely furious but also with so much satisfaction dripping from his voice. But he was not completely satisfied. This Sasuke- this monster within him would never be satisfied. Even when Jetsuuki was brutally killed and his blood was spilt all over the ground, Sasuke would never be content.

No, even if Jetsuuki was killed, Sasuke would have to keep going. Killing and murdering and slaying and hunting, unable to stop from this evil bloodthirsty addiction he had.

"You thought we Uchiha's were too conceited, right?? Just because we were stronger than the others, we would be revered and admired?? Well, the REAL REASON we were so bloody strong was because we have NO MERCY!! BECAUSE ALL ALONG we Uchihas were EVIL!!! You know!! Of course you know!! You're the one who started making me so bloodthirsty I can no longer stop myself!! You've made me give in to the darkness, Jetsuuki!! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT NOW!!" Sasuke cried out, cracking up into an evil laugh. His eyes were big and black; the Sharingan marks making him appear even more evil.

Sasuke stepped up to Jetsuuki. Jetsuuki's eyes were wide and he could barely breathe, struggling to make his lungs work under the weight and pain of his wounds. Jetsuuki stared up at Sasuke, his blood dripping into puddles on the ground.

"Oh yeah, Jetsuuki, it's all your fault… when you end up dead and rotting you can have plenty of time to regret everything!!" Sasuke screamed.

Sasuke kicked Jetsuuki's unmoving body brutally, and then slashed him with a long curved knife that was already stained with Jetsuuki's blood.

Sasuke spat out with contempt, "I'll tell you what, Jetsuuki. The real disgrace here is you!!"

"This is what you want, right?" Sasuke knelt down beside Jetsuuki and lowered his face close to Jetsuuki's. "What was this," Sasuke's voice was evil and smug, "I thought I was meant to be the one dying on the ground? Hm, Jetsuuki?? What do you have to say to that???"

Jetsuuki coughed, feeling fresh pain ripping through his body, as though his body wasn't already ripped to shreds. Jetsuuki managed to gasp out, "Uchiha- You… you bastard!! You're completely evil!!"

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. His smirk deepened. "Oh yeah? Tell me something I didn't already know, Jetsuuki!!"

Sasuke growled and his smirk disappeared. His bloodlust returned and evil controlling every muscle of his body, he lifted his hands and moved them towards Jetsuuki's throat.

As Sasuke's hands tightened around his throat, Jetsuuki thought he heard a strangled, painful voice come from Sasuke's mouth.

"You… did this, Jetsuuki!! You think… I wanted to become evil? You think I wanted to become a murdering bloodthirsty killer like my brother??" It was a strange kind of choking sound that came from Sasuke. "Don't you think even I deserved happiness??"

Jetsuuki felt the bones in his neck crack. Sasuke's eyes were so full of hate and anger, yet in them was also great struggle.

Hinata couldn't stop herself. Sasuke was out of control. He was really going to kill him!!

Hinata choked as tears cluttered up her throat. Why… why was she so useless?? Why was she just sitting here and watching? She really was a pathetic Hyuuga loser!!

Hinata said softly and tearfully, "Kitake, please let me go."

"What?" Kitake frowned.

Hinata pulled away the arm he had around her and turned to him, her eyes full of tears. Kitake shouted, "You're going to get hurt!! Uchiha's out of control!!"

Hinata loosened the grip he had on her and stepped onto the ground. Kitake seemed to sigh as he watched her.

"Hinata-san…" Kitake said, "…if you're going to stop Uchiha, you have to accept your deepest feelings for him. And remember that he doesn't hate you… he… Uchiha told me himself… he loves you more than anyone and anything else… so, Hinata-san… just… call his name and I know he'll hear you." Kitake's green eyes stared at her critically.

Hinata smiled sadly at Kitake. "Arigato."

With that, she took a brave step from her safe spectator spot and leaped into the bloody battlefield.

"Just DIE, Jetsuuki!!" yelled Sasuke. His hands were powerful and crushing Jetsuuki's throat. Jetsuuki's lungs had already been damaged and he barely had the strength to fight off Sasuke's vice-like grip.

Hinata gazed at the bloody scene and felt wet tears flow down her face.

"Uchiha-kun!!" She shouted out at the guy that she had to believe was Sasuke. He wouldn't turn to her, or look at her, nor even acknowledge her presence there.

Hinata couldn't help it. There were tears flooding from her eyes know and she struggled to call out to Sasuke. But she wanted to and she needed to, before Sasuke really and truly disappeared for good.

She dropped the honorific and yelled out his name.

"Sasuke!!" she shouted tearfully.

At once, Sasuke froze. Who was that… what was that familiar voice calling his name? Was he really still present, still alive in the monstrous beast that he had become?

It was… a voice he had heard before… a cherished voice… a voice he had loved.

"…please, Sasuke!! Don't… kill him… please…" It was a tearful voice that struggled to keep speaking.

Sasuke released his Jetsuuki and stood. His eyes were wide as he silently turned towards Hinata.

Hinata fought away the fear she felt when she saw him look at her. She sobbed, "Sasuke… I… I believe you're still in there… You're still… the Uchiha-kun… I know… and came to love. Sasuke… please… please!!! Don't give in anymore!! Don't let darkness overpower you!! Because… I believe there's still good in you!!"

Sasuke just stared.

Hinata's tears rolled off her cheeks and fell to the ground with a soft splash.

"…please… Sasuke!"

Sasuke stared blankly and emotionlessly at Hinata.

Somewhere in his mind, he confirmed what he saw. _…Hinata… you- you're here… Why… why are you crying? Why are you looking so miserable and gazing at me with that sad emotion on your face? You look so sad you're making my stomach tighten up. _

She gazed and him, still sniffling. Tears didn't stop falling. They kept coming, more and more and she couldn't stop herself crying.

_All those tears… dammit… she still cries way too much. Why is she crying? And why do you keep looking at me like that? She's crying so hard and the tears won't stop… did I… did I make you cry? _

Sasuke opened his mouth to speak, and said nothing.

_Once again, have I… lost to the darkness…? I've done something horrible, haven't I? And that's why Hinata- you're crying so bitterly? _

He stared at her in silence again, taking in her sad and pained face and her red tearful eyes.

_Hinata… _

Sasuke said slowly, "Hinata…" Any evil intent he had before had long vanished and was replaced with sadness.

"…why are you crying?"

Hinata didn't know how to describe the emotions she was feeling. This Sasuke… the Uchiha gazing at her just then, with unbearable sadness in his eyes… No matter how small it was, that tiny shred of goodness was still there in Sasuke… and she knew that he was the Sasuke standing there.

Hinata said nothing. She broke into a run.

She couldn't say anything. She didn't know what emotions she was wearing on her face, and the tears that were coming from her eyes… were they still sad and bitter or had Sasuke turned them into happy ones?

Sasuke was completely confused and taken aback when Hinata suddenly started running towards him. And then she just came up to him and threw her arms around him.

Sasuke was absolutely shocked. He looked down at her, this violet-haired girl sobbing into his chest, not caring how bloody she would get, hugging Sasuke as tightly as she could.

He tilted his head towards the roof for a moment, as though considering what to do. Then he lowered his head again, resting his chin on her head. He was reluctant and tentative, but slowly, Sasuke felt himself reaching out and hugging her back.

And for the second time ever, he cried.

**That was chapter 19!! Yippee!! Did you like it? Did you, did you?? I think I've decided that the next chapter will be the very last. **

**It's been a very long journey, everyone… thankyou for everything!! It still makes me emotional when I think about how far this story has come. So… everyone, please review!! **

**And make sure to read the final chapter next week, okay?? **


	20. Finally Happiness

**IT'S THE LAST CHAPTER!!! AAAAAARRRGHHHHH!!!! I'm… really sad because I'm just so proud of this fanfiction, and I love it so much!! I know I'll miss writing it and miss all your awesome reviews!! So I need to say Arigato Gozaimasu to you all!! Thankyou so so much!! THANKYOU!!! **

**So… here you go… chapter 20!! The final page of ****The Love, Pain and Tears of Uchiha Sasuke.**** Please read and review and tell me what you think of this fanfic!! **

** emichii!!**

**Chapter Twenty: Finally Happiness **

Sasuke, Hinata and Kitake stood together outside the building of the Otokage. Across from them was Jetsuuki. He had a black eye and cuts and bruises all over him, as well as a limp when he walked, and one arm in a sling. Hinata and Kitake had worked hard to bandage and help him as much as possible.

Sasuke stood there, full of remorse, yet he couldn't truly forgive Jetsuuki either.

Jetsuuki bowed his head deeply and said slowly, "Uchiha-san, Miss Hyuuga, Minabi-san… I'm… really sorry for everything I've done. I have done something… most unforgivable. And I am grateful that I'm still alive and that you would have helped tend to my wounds. I… I really have been so awful. I can't ask for forgiveness because I don't deserve it… so all I can do is say sorry. Gomen nasai…"

Jetsuuki looked so sad and miserable, even Sasuke started to feel sorry for him, though he didn't say anything. Kitake just glanced at Jetsuuki and then at Sasuke and Hinata.

"Jetsuuki-san…" Hinata spoke softly. "It's all right."

"What?" Jetsuuki was shocked. He looked so confused as he stared at Hinata.

Hinata smiled. "I believe that… everyone must have had something unfortunate happen to them… and they get hurt, so they want to seek revenge. They want to do something that will make them feel better, or make them forget about the pain from the past. And I… also think that everyone deserves to be forgiven. Even… you, Jetsuuki-san."

Jetsuuki's eyes widened. Then he sighed and smiled back, as hard as possible.

"Thankyou… so much…" He said, bowing his head.

Sasuke just made a little grunting sound, and looked the other way. Finally, he turned to Jetsuuki and said, "I'm sorry… for becoming so evil… like the Uchiha you said I was like. I'm really sorry."

Jetsuuki shook his head. "Nah. You were right. It was my fault."

The four of them stood there for a while in silence. Then Hinata spoke up, "Where are you going to go now, Jetsuuki-san?"

Jetsuuki smiled sadly. "I… ran away from the Sand Village where I grew up… and I haven't been back for a long time. I think… I will return there and become a better person than I have been. Besides, it's been a long time since I visited my mother's grave."

"Oh…" Hinata said.

Jetsuuki turned his back towards the others and started walking away.

"Thankyou again for everything… perhaps one day we will meet again. I'll greatly look forward to our next meeting, especially you, Miss Hyuuga."

They watched Jetsuuki's figure disappear into the distance.

Sasuke said, "What about you, Minabi? What are you gonna do?"

Kitake shifted his eyes towards the ground. "I… really don't know."

"Renn's gone, and the person I worked so hard to defeat has become an ally, so… I guess… I'll have to find a new thing to focus on." Kitake sighed, and then quickly grinned cheekily at Hinata. "Like winning Hinata-san's heart."

"What?" Sasuke cried.

Hinata looked shocked and flushed bright red.

"Ya know…" Sasuke said, starting to walk off towards the direction of home, pulling Hinata along with him, "If you… need a new place to call home… you can come to Konohagakure with us."

Kitake's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yeah." Sasuke looked a little embarassed. "It's kind of rare for me to have a friend like you, so if you wanna come, you should come."

Kitake still looked very surprised. He watched as Sasuke and Hinata started to walk off. Then he quickly ran after them. When he got to Sasuke, he gave him a little punch on the arm.

"So we're friends now, huh?" Kitake grinned.

Sasuke shrugged. "I suppose."

Kitake, quick as a flash, pulled Hinata's hand away from Sasuke's and dragged her further forward. Sticking out his tongue cheerfully at Sasuke, "I suppose you're going to have to learn the difference between a friend and a rival!!"

_Konohagakure, day after Sasuke, Hinata and Kitake arrived_

"Hinata!!"

She jerked up as Sakura ran up to her.

"S-Sakura-san!!" Hinata was bewildered at why the pink-haired girl wanted to talk to her.

"I see you and Sasuke are back from your mission," Sakura started.

"Y-yeah."

Sakura frowned. "Hinata, ever since you came back, you've been so deep in thought and looking so miserable… You… Hinata… you've fallen in love with Sasuke, haven't you?"

Hinata was incredibly flustered. _AAAAAARGHHH!! She found out!! _

"Wh-what…?" she squeaked.

Sakura said angrily, "Do you realize how unfair this is?? I've been in love with Sasuke since the day I met him!! And you've been so infatuated with Naruto!! You were lucky enough to get to go on a mission with Sasuke, but you come back and now you like him!! I know I shouldn't be so angry at you but…" Sakura's voice shook with emotions, "…it's not fair!! I liked him first!!"

Hinata trembled. Her hands were clutched in fists and she tightened them. "S-Sakura-san… you're right, you have every right to be angry, but you know that being me, I'm… a wimp… and pathetic… so it's not like I'd have a chance with Sasuke. Sakura-san, you're so smart and pretty… so… why are you so angry?"

Sakura stopped looking so angry and dropped her head down sadly. Her voice softened, "You're right Hinata… I'm much more outgoing than you are… but that's not going to help." She stared Hinata straight in the eyes. "Don't you get it?? Sasuke loves you!!"

Hinata's jaw dropped. And it stayed there. She froze and didn't move.

Sakura avoided Hinata's gaze. "I can tell by the way he acts now. After spending time with you, he's changed and it's because of you. He avoids you as much as he did before, but I can see him gazing at you when your back is turned." Tears appeared in Sakura's eyes. "And the worst thing is, I can see that and it really hurts!!"

Hinata found her voice and tried to comfort Sakura. "S-Sakura-san, you must be mistaken. There's no way he'd feel anything for me!!"

Sakura glared at Hinata with her teary eyes. She snapped, "THAT'S THE PROBLEM, HINATA!! You're in love with him but you're such a pathetic little wimp that you won't even try to talk to him about it!! Hinata, if you love him so much then stop being so stupid and tell him!!!"

"But Sakura-san-"

Sakura brushed away tears from her eyes and smiled solemnly and sadly. "If you were to do that, then I'd be able to get over him… and look for someone else…"

Hinata started to blink back tears herself. "Sakura-san!!"

Sakura turned away from Hinata and said hurriedly, "Hurry up, you idiot."

Hinata watched as Sakura walked away. Her heart thumped nervously. She knew… this was something she would have to tell her severe father.

Hinata wandered into her house. Of course, she wished she could keep this whole thing about her liking Sasuke to herself, but… if Sakura could tell, then her father would obviously suspect it too.

Hinata bit her lip. And if her father knew, and she didn't tell him, he'd be furious. Also, he would be pissed that Hinata could succumb to such weakness in liking Sasuke Uchiha.

"Father…" Hinata said softly.

Hiashi stared at Hinata grimly. "What is it?"

Hinata frowned and looked at her feet. "Father… I've fallen in love with someone…"

She could feel her heart thumping away so loudly in her chest. She still knew her dad hated her. And he was going to be furious for her to show such signs of weakness.

Hiashi sighed loudly. "It's Uchiha, isn't it?"

Hinata was astounded. How did he-??

Hiashi glared at Hinata. "I don't care." He said harshly. "I don't care and I never will care even the least about you, Hinata. You are still a disgrace to my family even if you become close to an Uchiha."

"H-hai, Father." Hinata lowered her head.

Hiashi was silent for a moment, and then quickly turned away from Hinata and began to walk away. Hinata looked at his back moving away from her and was startled when he spoke one last sentence.

"Just don't… let yourself get hurt, Hinata."

Hiashi walked away.

"UCHIHA!!" Kiba yelled as he found Sasuke.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked, sounding pissed.

Kiba glared at Sasuke with hatred. "Uchiha, how could you?"

"What??" Sasuke asked, frowning hard. What did the dog boy want?

Kiba flung out an arm and punched Sasuke in the face with all of his might. Sasuke took a couple of steps back. He straightened himself and glared at Kiba, rubbing his cheek with the back of his hand. "What the hell was that for??"

Kiba angrily ran after Sasuke and let fly with another punch. "Damn you, Uchiha!! You know what I'm pissed about!! Stop playing stupid!!"

Sasuke narrowly dodged Kiba's punch and angrily sent one back. "I don't know what the heck you're talking about!!"

Kiba was furious and flaming mad. He yelled out, "You were such a bastard for ever thinking so badly about Hinata and treating her like crap!!!"

Sasuke jumped away from an incoming kick. He yelled back, "I know and I'm sorry!!!"

Kiba shouted, "Uchiha, after you were so cruel to her, how dare you fall in love with Hinata???"

Sasuke flinched. No way! How had Inuzuka discovered that??

Kiba ran after Sasuke and while Sasuke was in confusion, fired a punch at his eye. Sasuke bit his lip as the pain raced through his head.

"You know, don't you??" Kiba screamed. "Hinata is way too good for you!! She's way too good for both of us!! But how the hell could she have chosen you?!?"

Sasuke glanced at the fiery Kiba. This boy… he had loved Hinata from the start, hadn't he?

Sasuke darted forward and narrowly missed Kiba's attacks.

"You realize now, don't you, Uchiha!!" Kiba shouted. "After spending that time with her, you finally know what Hinata is really like!!"

Sasuke growled, "I know already, dammit!! Why are you so angry at me??"

"I have every reason to be angry, Uchiha!!" Kiba cried. "For so long, you've hated her without even getting to know her!! You've never accepted the beautiful soul that she is and you've pushed her down and made her weak!! You've treated her so cruelly and so horribly and now you can just change your mind and decide you love her???"

Sasuke stared at Kiba and noticed that the angry guy practically had tears in his eyes. "Finally, you understand who Hinata really is!! Only now, you realize the innocent and unselfish girl she is!! Now you know that she never thinks for herself and she's a precious person to so many of us!!"

Kiba bit his lip as he tried to stop his emotions from exploding. He punched and kicked and fought with all his might, so as not to let his love for Hinata and the tears building up in his eyes be seen. But he couldn't stop it.

Kiba flung a feeble punch at Sasuke and stopped. He stood there, panting hard from exhaustion and pain. He sniffed as stubborn tears fell from his eyes.

Kiba spat out, "Even after all you put her through… even though I've loved her for so long… how… how could she like you??"

Sasuke stared in amazement at Kiba for a moment. Kiba was really suffering and so angry and in pain.

Sasuke grumbled as he finally spoke. "It's all your fault. You're the one who was in love with her but didn't do anything about it."

Kiba looked up and sent a death glare at Sasuke. He opened his mouth to speak but Sasuke spoke first.

"Inuzuka… you are right though. Only now, I realize what Hinata really is like. I… I've spent time with her and I can see how pure she is." Sasuke said, not looking at Kiba.

Kiba was breathing in and out hard from exhaustion. He was still glaring at Sasuke.

"I know that she is such a gentle and compassionate girl… and I've realized how many people she has touched, and that there are so many that love her…" Sasuke said slowly.

Yeah… she had managed to reach so many people's hearts… like Kiba's, obviously, and Jetsuuki… Kitake, even himself…

Sasuke continued, "And I also know that she is too pure for me… Love… really sucks but I'd be lying if I said I didn't love her."

There was a silence.

Kiba angrily wiped away tears and snapped, "Dammit. I already know that!!"

Sasuke watched him in silence for a while. Finally, Kiba let out a slow and painful breath.

He stood up straighter and gave Sasuke one last glare. "Uchiha… If you ever hurt Hinata or let her get hurt, you'll have to answer to me."

And with that, Kiba ran off.

"S-Sasuke!" Hinata cried out timidly as she found Sasuke.

Sasuke blinked in confusion at the violet-haired girl. "What, Hinata?"

"Uh… um…" Hinata struggled but couldn't say anything. Her voice faltered and her shoulders dropped. She said, "…Sasuke, you have a black eye."

Sasuke watched as Hinata wearily turned away and punished herself. He felt his cheeks grow warm when he looked at her. _GAAAHH!! Not again!! _Sasuke was furious. This was stupid!! It was most unsuited for him to act like this!!

But… he couldn't help it. He really, really, really… loved her.

"Hinata!" he shouted suddenly.

"What?" Hinata looked at him, face bright red.

"I… er… I…" Sasuke stammered. He hated himself right now. No!! No stuttering!! That was Hinata's thing, not his!! Dammit, he really was stupid!!

Sasuke couldn't find the words. The only thing he could do was grab her hand and pull her towards him.

"Wha-??" Hinata started.

Sasuke pulled Hinata close and kissed her.

Hinata felt her entire face burning. But she couldn't help but to kiss him back.

When they finally broke away they were both flaming red and embarassed. Sasuke lowered his gaze and said, "H-Hinata… I love you,"

He saw Hinata with her eyes wide and her jaw hitting the ground, looking completely shocked with what just happened.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and quickly tried to gain control. "Dammit!! I can't help it!!" he said angrily.

"Sasuke…" Hinata murmured.

"What??" he snapped.

"I… I really love you too." she said quietly.

Sasuke blinked at her in complete wonder.

"You…" he started slowly. "You're still an idiot." he said and hugged her.

Sakura and Ino watched Hinata and Sasuke from afar. Sakura let out a little sniff. "Hmph. Now they're happy together and we're still alone."

Ino sighed and put her head in her hands. "Yeah. I can't believe a little frail wimp like Hinata could've won Sasuke's heart."

Sakura sighed as well. "But… if you think about it, all along, Hinata was the kind of person that would be able to get Sasuke to love her."

"Mm." Ino mumbled. Suddenly, the blonde lifted her head and gasped.

"What is it?" Sakura wondered.

"Oh my gosh!!" Ino cried. "Did you see him? That guy over there!!"

Sakura followed Ino's gaze to a stranger she had never seen before. She felt her heart thump a little.

"He's that guy who came back with Sasuke and Hinata!! He is so hot!!" Ino cried out. "Kyaahh!! He's looking towards us!!" she freaked.

Sakura looked at the boy with the deepest green eyes she had ever seen. To her shock, he was looking at her too. Sakura felt her face turn red and she quickly looked away.

Kitake simply smiled like he always did and kept walking along.

Sasuke held out a hand towards Hinata and gave her a smile that he would never give anyone else but her. Because she was the one who unlocked the deepest and darkest pain and secrets inside him and somehow, just by being Hinata, was able to heal him.

Hinata smiled shyly and placed her hand in his.

Sasuke gripped her hand tightly, hoping that he would never have to let go.

It is… a tough and tiring journey… full of twists and turns, evil and darkness, and pain and suffering. But… it is still possible to reach it.

Love… even when you find it, you realize it sucks. And it hurts so badly and you discover you can't have love without pain.

Pain hurts deepest and it brings out all the suffering and hurt you have hidden and that has tormented you. Even so, pain comes hand in hand with tears.

Tears that you have tried to hide gradually seep out, no matter how hard you try or how much you swear you will stop them.

There is all this turmoil and darkness around you. It seems to grip you and hold onto you tightly, so much that you feel you are being enveloped by it. You try to run but it surrounds you in every direction.

The suffering and hurt you face, and have faced in the past, is always there and seems to stop you from moving away.

But even through all this hurt and darkness, a tiny spark of light peers through.

And slowly… ever so slowly, the darkness fades, if you are just willing to reach out your hand and grab it.

That little spark of light.

Happiness.

**The Love, Pain and Tears of Uchiha Sasuke **

**The End**

**One thing to say: WWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!! It's over!! BOOHOOHOO!!! **

**Sob… sniff… hi… I'm emichii. And I want to cry and give you all a hug and say thankyou very much for reading and reviewing!! Thankyou for coming with me on the journey to happiness (or Sasuke's happiness, whatever). **

**Thankyou, thankyou, thankyou for reading this fanfic all the way to the end!! **

**Wwwwaaahhhhh!!! TTTT**

**I guess that's all I have to say!! Thankyou once again!! **

**emichii signing out!! **


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